Asia naphtha demand to hit 230m tonnes/year by 2019

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Asia’s demand for naphtha is expected to reach 230m tonnes/year by 2019, driven by the massive growth of petrochemical production in the region, an industry executive said on Wednesday.

The region has the biggest naphtha market, with its demand projected to grow by about 30% from 180m tonnes this year, said Paul Hawkins, director of trading and supply at trading firm Litasco, at the 2010 Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) in Singapore.

Asia would primarily procure supply of the main petrochemical feedstock from the Middle East and “opportunistically from the Mediterranean region”, Hawkins said.

The region’s crude imports, meanwhile, was expected to grow by 30% to 900m tonnes/year in 2019 from 660m tonnes/year currently, he said.

From China, there would be additional demand for strategic petroleum reserves, which would boost crude imports into the region and maintain upward pressure on prices, Hawkins said.

Regional crude production, on the other hand, “remains limited” at around 350m tonnes/year, he added.

Asia was emerging as the new refining centre of the world, with the expected rerouting of oil flows into the region because of closures of refineries in Europe and the US, Hawkins said.

The region’s demand for hydrocarbons would be driven by automobiles and power generation, he said.

“To maintain robust growth in the face of weakening external demand, the region’s economies must stoke domestic consumption. We believe that is coming,” Hawkins said.

In 2030, demand for oil in non-OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ) countries in Asia – including India and China – was expected to surge by 75% from 2008 to 30.8m bbl/day in 2030, he said.

Supply of oil from non-OECD countries in Asia, meanwhile, was expected to grow 13% from 2008 to 8.7m bbl/day in 2030, Hawkins added.