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2025-07-31 19:01:29
[Undercurrents in the Asian Oil Market: Naphtha Backwardations Widen, Gasoline Cracks Soar!] ⑴ On July 31, the price structure of the Asian naphtha market shifted, with backwardation widening to $3.50 per ton. ⑵ Cargo prices for the first half of September rose for the second consecutive trading day. ⑶ The naphtha crack spread against Brent crude oil remained little changed, remaining at around $64 per ton. ⑷ The gasoline crack spread rose to $7.92 per barrel on Thursday, up from $7.28 the previous day. ⑸ Market participants said benchmark gasoline trading resumed after a four-day hiatus. ⑹ Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that U.S. gasoline inventories fell by 2.7 million barrels to 228.4 million barrels as of the previous week, far exceeding analysts' expectations of a 600,000-barrel drop. ⑺ Light distillate inventories in Singapore fell to a two-week low, reaching 12.748 million barrels in the week ending July 30. ⑻ India's state-owned refiners have stopped buying Russian oil as discounts narrow and Trump's tariff rhetoric sparked market concerns. ⑼ Shell's second-quarter net profit fell by nearly a third, but still easily beat analyst expectations. ⑽ Trade sources say Asia is expected to increase imports of U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil in the fourth quarter as Middle East oil prices strengthen and open up an arbitrage window.
