Flux Markets | Naphtha Cracks Under Pressure Skip to main content

Naphtha Cracks Under Pressure

Naphtha weak: cracks lower, bearish positioning, spreads/flows pressured; oversold hints short-term bounce risk
Published: June 1, 2026
Written by:
Mita Chaturvedi

Mita Chaturvedi

Research Associate, Flux
Mita Chaturvedi
and
Martha Dowding

Martha Dowding

Research Associate, Flux
Martha Dowding
17 page report
Share

Naphtha has been under pressure, with the rolling M1 NWE crack dropping from seasonal highs on 11 May to a seasonal low of -$9.25/bbl (excluding 2022). In the Jul'26 NWE crack, positioning flipped sharply from -134kb to +145kb as trade houses unwound shorts and refiners turned net buyers...

Premium Content

To continue reading this page, please login or find our about our subscription options.

Related News

Dither and Delay

Given their maximalist demands and lack of trust in one another, delay and deadlock remain the more likely outcomes in the near term....
29 page report

Volatile Afternoon in Brent

Oil jumps on Iran-Israel-Hezbollah tensions, strike risk in Norway, mixed demand outlook; spreads widen.
4 page report

Brent softens ahead of Jul’26 expiry

US President Donald Trump said, in a Truth Social post, that "Iran must agree that they will never have a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb.....
4 page report

Brent Falls to $92/bbl

Brent trades around $92/bbl; front Jul/Aug Brent futures fall below $1 on expiry day; US imposes new vessel sanctions
4 page report