Asia Naphtha/Gasoline-Gasoline crack rallies; market players cautious on outlook

Reuters10-16

Oct 16 (Reuters) - Asia's gasoline margins rallied on Wednesday after falling in the previous session, even as concerns persist around the long-term demand for gasoline among regional players.

Gunvor Singapore emerged as the biggest buyer at the closing window, snapping up two-thirds of the 300,000 barrels of 92-gasoline traded.

The crack rose to $4.38 per barrel over Brent crude from $3.98 on Tuesday.

In the naphtha market, margins slipped on Wednesday to an almost two week low. The crack fell by $4.12, to $108.98 per metric ton over Brent crude, its lowest since Sept. 27.

The backwardation between first-half December and first-half January narrowed to $5.25.

Traders are cautious on the short-term demand for the light distillate as maintenance is ongoing in Idemitsu Kosan's Tokuyama and South Korean GS Caltex's crackers. Both are expected to come back online in the November-December period.

INVENTORY

Light distillate stocks, including naphtha and gasoline, at the Fujairah commercial hub fell by 1.108 million barrels to 5.579 million barrels in the week ending Oct. 14, S&P Global Commodity Insights data showed.

NEWS

Oil steadied on Wednesday, supported by OPEC+ cuts and uncertainty over what may happen next in the Middle East conflict, after demand concerns knocked the market to its lowest since early October in the previous session.

India's crude oil imports from Russia rose by 11.7% to about 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, accounting for about two-fifths of the South Asian nation's overall crude imports in the month, tanker data obtained from industry sources showed.

A resumption of Libyan crude output after a political crisis over the central bank slashed the OPEC member's exports to a four-year low, has led to a surplus in crude supplies in Europe, forcing competing sellers to cut their prices, trading sources and analysts say.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Five gasoline deals and one naphtha trade.

PRICES

CASH ASIA CLOSE Change Prev Close RIC

OSN Naphtha CFR Japan M1 665.25 -5.25 670.50

($/mt)

OSN Naphtha CFR Japan M2 660.00 -5.00 665.00

($/mt)

OSN Naphtha Diff ($/mt) 5.25 -0.25 5.50 <NAF-TYO-DIF

>

Naphtha Netback FOB Sing 71.92 -0.53 72.45

($/bbl)

Naphtha Diff FOB Sing 0.40 0.00 0.40 <NAF-SIN-DIF

>

Naphtha-Brent Crack 108.98 -4.12 113.10 <NAF-SIN-CRK

($/mt) >

Gasoline 97 ($/bbl) 82.49 0.25 82.24

Gasoline 95 ($/bbl) 83.05 0.25 82.80

Gasoline 92 ($/bbl) 78.55 0.25 78.30

Gasoline crack ($/bbl) 4.38 0.40 3.98 <GL92-SIN-CR

K>

For a list of derivatives prices, including margins, please double click the

RICs below.

Brent M1

Naphtha CFR Japan M1 <NACFRJPSWMc1

>

Naphtha CFR Japan M1/M2 <NACFRJPSDMc1

>

Naphtha CFR Japan M2 <NACFRJPSWMc2

>

Naphtha Japan-Sing <NAPTC4SPDMc1

Netback M1 >

Naphtha Japan-Sing <NAPTC4SPDMc2

Netback M2 >

Naphtha FOB Sing M1 <NAFOBSGSWMc1

>

Naphtha FOB Sing M1/M2 <NAFOBSGSDMc1

>

Naphtha FOB Sing M2 <NAFOBSGSWMc2

>

Naphtha Cracks M1 <NACFRJPCKMc1

>

East-West Naphtha M1

East-West Naphtha M2

NWE Naphtha M1

NWE Naphtha M1/M2 <NAPCNWEASMc1

>

NWE Naphtha M2

Crack NWE Naphtha-Brent <NAPCNWEACMc1

M1 >

Crack NWE Naphtha-Brent <NAPCNWEACMc2

M2 >

*Sing refers to

Singapore

(Reporting by Haridas; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

((Haridas.X@thomsonreuters.com;))

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