Asia Naphtha/Gasoline-Naphtha liquidity improves after eight days of thin trade

SINGAPORE, March 8 (Reuters) - Asia's naphtha discussions snapped eight days of thin liquidity on Monday with two open market deals, amid a downtrend in prices and overall cautious market sentiment. Naphtha cracks fell by more than $7 a tonne, echoing the weakness in oil futures since the afternoon trading session. Some offers emerged via tenders the past two days from the Middle East for March-loading parcels, signalling a slight increase in supply for prompt loading. This was despite earlier expectations of improving demand from cracker operators in some regions, given the rise in downstream production spreads, amid a backwardated prompt-forward price structure. On the gasoline front, physical prices for the transportation fuel declined after four straight sessions of gains, tracking slight weakness in U.S. gasoline futures and its backwardated prompt-forward price structure. The export window for arbitrage cargoes from Asia and Europe remains open to the U.S., which could still result in near-term positive sentiment, one blendstocks trader said. Furthermore, the U.S. has already switched to summer specifications gasoline. Likewise, RON-92 gasoline cracks fell to $13.22 per barrel - with decreases cushioned by buyers still seeking for cargoes in the open market.

INVENTORIES - U.S. crude oil inventories fell last week, while fuel stockpiles rose, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. Crude stocks fell by about 3.8 million barrels in the week ended March 3, they said. Gasoline inventories rose by about 1.8 million barrels, while distillate stocks rose by about 1.9 million barrels, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. - Light distillates stockpiles at Fujairah Oil Industry Zone fell to a five-week low to 7.151 million barrels for the week ended March 6, according to industry information service S&P Global Commodity Insights.

NEWS - Deliveries from TotalEnergies SE's refineries are suspended due to new strike action triggered by the government's planned pension reform, a company spokesperson said on Wednesday. - Oil prices fell for a second straight session on Wednesday, driven by fears that more aggressive U.S. interest rate hikes would hit demand, while the market awaited further clarity on inventories. SINGAPORE CASH DEALS - One naphtha deal, no gasoline deals.
PRICES LIGHT DISTILLATES
CASH ($/T) ASIA CLOSE Change % Prev RIC Change Close
OSN Naphtha CFR Japan M1 726.50 -29.00 -3.84 755.50 OSN Naphtha CFR Japan M2 708.00 -29.50 -4.00 737.50 OSN Naphtha Diff 18.50 0.50 2.78 18.00 <NAF-TYO-DIF > Naphtha Netback FOB Sing 78.72 -3.22 -3.93 81.94 Naphtha-Brent Crack 102.73 -7.17 -6.52 109.90 <NAF-SIN-CRK > Gasoline 97 101.86 -3.03 -2.89 104.89 Gasoline 95 100.03 -3.17 -3.07 103.20 Gasoline 92 96.39 -3.21 -3.22 99.60 Gasoline crack 13.22 -0.30 -2.22 13.52 <GL92-SIN-CR K>
For a list of derivatives prices, including margins,
please double click the RICs below.
Brent M1 Naphtha CFR Japan M1 Naphtha CFR Japan M1/M2 Naphtha CFR Japan M2 Naphtha Japan-Sing Netback M1
Naphtha Japan-Sing Netback M2
Naphtha FOB Sing M1 Naphtha FOB Sing M1/M2 Naphtha FOB Sing M2 Naphtha Cracks M1 East-West Naphtha M1 East-West Naphtha M2 NWE Naphtha M1 NWE Naphtha M1/M2 NWE Naphtha M2 Crack NWE Naphtha-Brent M1
Crack NWE Naphtha-Brent M2

*Sing refers to Singapore

(Reporting by Trixie Yap; Editing by Varun H K)