SINGAPORE: Asia’s gasoline margin fell on Friday to a 2-1/2 week low of $8.56 a barrel, erasing gains from the last three days as inventories across the major regions of Singapore, the US and Europe were higher week-on-week.

Gasoline held in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub edged to a two-week high of 792,000 tonnes in the week to Thursday after hitting a 14-month low in the week to Nov. 14, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

The current levels are however 18% lower than a year ago.

Singapore’s onshore inventories of light distillates, which mostly comprise gasoline and blending components for petrol, were similarly at a two-week high of 10.8 million barrels in the week to Wednesday, official data showed.

Gasoline stocks in the US rose by 1.8 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll of a 870,000-barrel gain.

Asian naphtha cracks, in contrast to gasoline, rose for the fourth straight session to reach a five-week high of $94.58 a tonne as recent demand has soaked up supplies.

Petronas said its massive refinery and petrochemicals complex in southern Malaysia, a $27-billion joint venture with Saudi Aramco, will start commercial operations as planned by the end of the year, dismissing a report of a delay.—Reuters