Naphtha crack in Asia down to near 3 week low, likely to reverse on Kuwait refinery fire

18-Aug-15

Asia's naphtha crack fell to a near three-week low of US$82.6/ton, but a fire at Kuwait's 200,000 bpd Shuaiba oil refinery which caused all units to be shut on late Monday could turn the value around, traders said in Reuters. They added that the refinery produces an average of up to about 120,000 tons of naphtha a month. "The shutdown of Kuwait Petroleum Corp's (KPC) refinery has repercussions for the naphtha market," said a trader This was because there was not much room left for other Middle Eastern refiners to fill the supply void due to upcoming maintenance in Saudi Arabia. State-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co was operating its newly expanded Ruwais refinery at just above 70% capacity after it recently had to shut a secondary unit. "All of the Middle East's refinery runs have been maximised," said the same trader