Price of Naphtha and Other Liquid Feed Stocks

Price of Naphtha and Other Liquid Feed Stocks 

Most naphtha (over 80%) is used in the production of gasoline. Therefore the price of naphtha is strongly influenced by, on the one hand, the prevailing price of crude oil and on the other, by the demands of the gasoline market. The trade in oil, naphtha and gasoline is very large and transparent. 

Broadly, there are three major world market centres - New York for the Americas, Rotterdam for Europe and Singapore for the Far East. 

Each market has its local marker crude to which other crude oils are referenced - West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent Blend and Tapis Blend respectively. There is extensive trade between the regions (arbitrage) which links the global oil and oil derivatives market into one structure and evens out regional price differentials. 

These representative crude oils are of the group of light low sulphur crude oils, which are easily processed into high quality transport fuels. They are sought for these properties and sell at a positive differential to most other crude oils. 

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