Asia Gasoline cracks hit one-wk high amid US, Singapore stock draw

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - Gasoline cracks in Asia rose to a one-week high on Thursday amid data that showed light distillate stocks in Singapore fell 8% on the week and chalking up a second successive week of a 1-million barrel draw.

RON 92 FOB Singapore May swaps versus July cash Brent rose to $6.70/b from $6.32/b on Wednesday, the highest level since 22 April, according to Quantum data.

Naphtha cracks also rose for the fourth successive day, with the May CFR Japan swap versus July cash Brent hitting a three-week high of $93.37/mt.

The rise in light end cracks came amid bullish news on stocks in both the US and Sinagpore that showed meaty gasoline draws.

In the US, EIA data showed that gasoline stocks rose 90,000 barrels last week versus expectations of a 500,000-barrel draw.

While in Singapore, stocks fell 8% to 12.4 million barrels.

The rise marks a rebound in gasoline cracks, which had been on the slide for weeks, falling to a low of $5.87/b on Tuesday due to pessimism on the covid outbreak in India.

So far, the world's third biggest consumer of oil has avoided a national lockdown, although transportation demand will have been hit hard by lockdowns in major cities such as Delhi and Lucknow.

Meanwhile, Turkey is also preparing for its first full lockdown, with cases surging to the highest level on record there.

Turkey's lockdown will take place from Thursday for a period of two-and-a-half weeks.