Asian gasoline cracks flip into contango as Indian demand weighs

London, (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - Asian gasoline cracks for May and June have slipped from a backwardated structure into a contango market this week as fears over Indian demand pushed the May crack down, according to Quantum data.

RON 92 gasoline loading out of Singapore for May has risen $0.27/b this week, with June rising $0.30/b.

With the market structure for Dubai crude flattening on fears that new lockdowns in India will depress oil demand in the world's third biggest consumer, that has pushed the May-June crack versus the number one benchmark crude in Asia into contango.

May cracks were marked at $8.58/b versus June at $8.59/b on Wednesday basis FOB Singapore versus Dubai cash crude, compared with May at $9.24/b versus June at $9.15/b a week earlier.

A contango structure is where cargoes get progressively more expensive for later loading dates.

The change is an anomaly as the rest of the market is in backwardation, where later loading cargoes are progressively cheaper.

With European gasoline firming versus crude over the past week, the differential between Asian and European gasoline has widened to $3.29/b ($27/mt).