Asia’s naphtha refining profit margin gained on Wednesday as supplies remained tight and crude oil benchmarks rose.

The crack rose to $103.28 per metric ton over Brent crude and the backwardation between second-half October and second-half November stood at $4.50 a ton.

Window activity remained thin for a third straight session for both naphtha and gasoline, market participants said.

The gasoline crack traded steadily firm at about $12 per barrel over Brent crude as balances in Asia continued to be tight.

In tenders, Indonesia’s Pertamina was heard to have awarded some volumes of 3 million barrels of its latest gasoline spot tender to trading firms OQ and Unipec at a premium of around $1.5 per barrel, market sources said.

NEWS

– Oil prices rose on Wednesday after Israel attacked Hamas leadership in Qatar, Poland shot down drones and the U.S. made a push for new sanctions on buyers of Russian oil, but concerns over crude oversupply capped further gains.

– Petronas is trying to achieve a 90% operating rate by the end of this year at the crude unit for its Pengarang refinery, Ahmad Adly Alias, the firm’s vice president for refining, marketing and trading told Reuters on the sidelines of the APPEC industry event.

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Source: Reuters