The FOB Singapore 92 RON gasoline crack against front-month July ICE Brent crude futures narrowed to $5.85/b at the Asian close Monday, falling 61 cents/b from last Thursday, S&P Global Platts data showed.
It was last lower on April 20 when the crack was assessed at $5.64/b.
The crack has been below the $8/b mark for most of this year. Specifically for the second quarter, it averaged $7.38/b for the period April 2 to June 18, which is 28% lower compared with $10.25/b for the same period last year, Platts data showed.
The lower crack was mainly a result of the downward movement in the NYMEX RBOB front-month futures, market sources said.
"The US is running extremely high now and the RBOB versus Brent spread looks bad, which then influences the 92 physical crack against Brent," a Singapore trader said.
The July NYMEX RBOB futures contract settled Monday at 201.94 cents/gal, down 4.2% week on week from 210.870 cents/gal last Monday, Platts data showed.
"The Singapore 92 crack is usually affected by the West, and so the fall in RBOB is pulling down the crack we're seeing right now," another Chinese trading source said.
In addition, the weaker Singapore 92 RON gasoline crack was also due to the emergence of excess regional supplies, according to some trading sources. "Most Asian refineries are running at their maximum rates and a lot of products are flowing into the market," a Taiwanese trader said.
"But on the demand side, we're seeing limited uptake," the same source added.
Reflecting the weaker sentiment, the prompt inter-month Singapore gasoline timespread fell by 5 cents/b or 9.43% from the beginning of the month to 48 cents/b at the Asian close Monday, Platts data showed.
The bearishness could also be seen further along the curve, where the Q3/Q4 timespread was assessed at $1.17/b Monday, down $1.14/b from the year-to-date high of $2.31/b on Jan 29.
