Asia’s naphtha refining profit margin declined on Tuesday amid thin window activity and volatility in crude oil benchmarks.

The crack fell to $104.70 per metric ton over Brent crude. The backwardation between prompt and front months narrowed to $6.25 a ton.

“East-of Suez naphtha markets will tighten further as China will add 4 million tons of steam cracking demand year-on-year in the fourth quarter 2025,” consultancy Energy Aspects said in a note last week.

“Moreover, recent Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries are curbing naphtha production and exports, which were mostly flowing to Asia,” the note said.

In the gasoline market, the crack (GL92-SIN-CRK) jumped as balances remained tight, with firm demand in Asia amid planned and unplanned outages, and expectation of lower exports from China, traders said.

NEWS

– Top global oil trader Vitol and North American fuel distributor Sunoco took delivery of the first U.S. import of gasoline from Nigeria’s new Dangote refinery on Monday, according to vessel-tracking data and two sources familiar with the matter.
– Sanctioned tanker Spartan has discharged Russian crude oil at India’s Mundra port despite a ban by the Adani Group on entry of blacklisted ships at the terminal, ship tracking data from LSEG and Kpler showed.

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Source: Reuters