Asia Gasoline/Naphtha-Open-spec hovers at 6-wk low

SINGAPORE, July 10 (Reuters) - Asian naphtha prices hovered
near 1-1/2 months lows on Friday, while cracks recovered after
falling to their lowest in about two weeks a day ago.

Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) sold more than 150,000 tonnes of
naphtha to buyers including Mitsui Oil and Itochu, at least
three times the amount it offered in a tender, as the start-up
of its aromatics plant was further delayed, traders said.

"It was supposed to start-up sometime in the second-quarter,
but that was delayed to July/August. But I don't foresee the
unit starting up in the third quarter," a trader said.

The large volumes failed to drag sentiment down, with
traders saying spot supplies have remained tight, as regional
refinery run cuts have offset high Kuwait barrels and Western
imports arriving in Asia.

At least 500,000 tonnes of naphtha has been provisionally
booked to land in Asia next month.

"The barrels consist of heavy and light naphtha, both of
which are short in the region," a trader said.

The supply crunch has continued to boost spot premiums.

As for gasoline, sentiment strengthened a little after South
Korea's GS Caltex shut a 93,000 barrels per day (bpd) residual
fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) at Yosu this week because of a
mechanical issue caused by a damaged blade.

But traders in general did not see any real physical support
from the market as demand is soft, while supplies are high on
limited spot sales outlets.

"Even if GS Caltex really need to buy to plug their supply
shortfall, it will be just one cargo," said a trader.

* JAPAN OPEN-SPEC NAPHTHA NAF-1H-TYO: Prices for front
month second-half August eased $3.00 to $552.00 a tonne, the
lowest since May 28.

* BACKWARDATION/CONTANGO: The half-month backwardation
between second-half August and first-half September was
unchanged at $4.00 a tonne, with the intermonth backwardation
also holding steady at $7.00 a tonne.

* CRACK SPREAD: Cracks -- the profits or losses of refining
Brent crude into naphtha -- recovered by about 6 percent, or
$5.70 to $97.80 a tonne premium.

* NAPHTHA CASH DEALS: In cash trading, Itochu sold a
first-half September parcel to Shell at $548.00 a tonne.

TENDERS: South Korea's SK Energy picked up ONGC's
35,000-tonne parcel for Aug 1-2 lifting from Hazira at around
$33.00 a tonne premium to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board
(FOB) basis.

- It also bought MRPL's 30,000-tonne cargo for Aug 22-24 at
$27.00 a tonne premium.

- Separately, IOC sold a 15,000-tonne cargo for July 16-20
loading from Haldia to Itochu at a premium of around $15.00 a
tonne to its own pricing formula.

- IOC has an outstanding tender to sell 30,000 tonne of
naphtha for Aug 6-8 loading from Dahej. [nASIANAP].

* GASOLINE CRACKS: Crack spreads -- premiums/losses obtained
from refining Brent crude into the auto fuel -- rose 54 cents to
$5.59 a barrel premium, highest since June 30.

* GASOLINE TRADES: A deal resumed, after a three days of
silence.

- Shell bought a 97-octane parcel from Glencore for July
25-29 lifting at $70.90 a barrel.
PRODUCT Price Prev Change
AUG09 NAPHTHA NAF-1H-TYO 551.50/552.50 555.00 -3.00
SPOT NAPHTHA NETBACK NAF-SIN 60.03/60.13 60.53 -0.45
AUG NAPHTHA SWAPS NAF-1M-S 58.90/59.10 59.15 -0.15
SEP NAPHTHA SWAPS NAF-1M-S 58.50/58.70 58.65 -0.05
SPOT GASOLINE 97 UNL GL97-SIN 70.85/70.95 71.62 -0.72
SPOT GASOLINE 95 UNL GL95-SIN 68.00/68.10 68.67 -0.62
SPOT GASOLINE 92 UNL GL92-SIN 66.10/66.20 66.77 -0.62
SPOT 92RON/NAF GL92-SIN-DIF 6.02/6.12 6.24 -0.17
(Reporting by Seng Li Peng; Editing by Anthony Barker)