Asia Naphtha/Gasoline-Naphtha prices rise, supported by Chinese buying

NEW DELHI, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Asia's naphtha prices extended last week's gains on Monday amid strong buying interest from China for second-half February cargoes, traders said.

The price for second-half February naphtha rose by about $10 to $562.75 per ton and it traded $3.50 a ton higher than second-half March naphtha in backwardation structure.

CNOOC and Unipec surfaced in spot market in recent days to buy volumes for second-half February at a premium of $1-$4 per ton to second-half January quotes on cost and freight basis, market participants said.

The refining profit margin for naphtha was up slightly at $88.53 a ton over Brent crude from $84.55 in the previous session.

NEWS

- Commodities trader Vitol is expected to load the first cargo of naphtha from the U.S. to Venezuela this weekend under a new supply agreement announced just days ago by President Donald Trump, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday.

- At least six oil tankers, most of them loaded, that had departed Venezuela in early January in 'dark mode' - or with their transponders off amid a strict U.S. blockade - are now back in the South American country's waters, according to state company PDVSA and monitoring service TankerTrackers.com.

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