Gasoline margin steady, naphtha backwardation narrows

Asia's gasoline refining profit margin was little changed on Friday amid a lack of window trades, but the crack remained supported by peak summer driving demand.

The crack traded at $10.75 per barrel over Brent crude, compared with $10.53 a day earlier.

Gasoline stocks at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining hub declined 2% to 1.1 million tons on slower imports in the week to July 3, Insight Global's data showed.

Naphtha stocks at the European hub slumped to 581,000 tons from 624,000 tons in the prior week.

In the naphtha market, a window deal emerged after a gap of five trading sessions. Energy trader BP bought 25,000 tons of first-half September naphtha, market participants said.

Asia's naphtha crack traded at $71.63 per metric ton over Brent crude on Friday. The backwardation between second-half August and second-half September naphtha narrowed to $7.25 a ton.

The reforming margin, or gasoline's premium over naphtha, declined 1% this week to about $16.18 per barrel.

NEWS

- Saudi oil giant Aramco is looking to sell up to five gas-fired power plants, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, part of a broader effort to free up funds that could generate tens of billions of dollars.

- Oil futures fell slightly on Friday after Iran reaffirmed its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation, while major producers from the OPEC+ group are set to agree to raise their output this weekend.

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