The value of CIF Northwest European butane cargoes compared with Brent crude increased to minus $36.73/barrel Monday, the highest value since April 15 when it was assessed at minus $34.46/b.
The physical butane large cargo price compared with a barrel of Dated Brent crude -- its crack -- rose $1.61/b from the previous assessment of minus $38.34/b.
The strengthening of the comparative value of butane was mainly driven by a weaker physical crude market, which has seen prices fall $4.295/b to an assessment of $111.020 Monday from an over nine-month high of $115.315/b on June 19.
The physical butane market was also assessed higher by $6/mt at $809/metric ton Monday, tracking a $2/mt increase in physical naphtha prices.
The Islamist insurgency in Iraq had prompted a sharp increase in crude markets as fears grew that supplies from the country could be affected, although those concerns have now eased somewhat.
Balanced sentiment in the NWE butane cargo market in recent weeks has seen prices hovering around 82-85% of the price of naphtha.
An absence of winter gasoline blending demand has resulted in the fuel being a potential alternative cracker feedstock, should petrochemical economics mean it yields sufficiently profitable co-products.
Butane, part of the liquid petroleum gas (LPG) group of light hydrocarbons, is a by-product of crude oil refining and natural gas distillation.
Refineries are able to export the product to petrochemical buyers or retain production volumes for use in their own chemical refining facilities.
