Naphtha crack in Asia dips after near 16% spike

16-Jan-17

Naphtha crack in Asia dipped by 5% at the end of the previous week to US$105.6/ton after spiking by almost 16% in the previous session to a one-year high, as per Reuters. Gasoline and naphtha have been boosted in part by a fire at ADNOC's Ruwais refinery in the United Arab Emirates which coincided with a fire at Russia's Tuapse oil refinery this week. "It was a knee-jerk reaction yesterday but people now feel that it was overdone," a Singapore-based trader said in reference to the lower naphtha crack on Friday vs on Thursday.

European naphtha shipments to Asia for February arrival were 40% lower when compared to January. Traders are unclear about the situation for gasoline and naphtha supplies but they said there was talk of sharp production cuts at the Ruwais refinery. In Russia, the Tuapse oil refinery, owned by Rosneft, will restart a vacuum gasoil unit within 24 hours from Thursday.