Reliance, ONGC sell 90,000 tons of March naphtha at highest sales premium through tenders since August

28-Feb-15

India's Reliance Industries Ltd and Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) sold a total of 90,000 tons of March naphtha at over $25 a tonne, making this their highest sales premium through tenders since August, Reuters data showed. Tight supplies caused by previous delays in shipments from the west to Asia due to bad weather and the U.S. choking off most of its supplies to the East following recent outages and ongoing strikes had boosted naphtha prices. Traders said Reliance sold the 55,000 ton cargo scheduled for March 21-25 loading from Sikka to Japanese Itochu, who had also bought a 35,000 ton naphtha cargo for March 26-28 loading from Kochi from refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL). Price details of the BPCL cargo could not be confirmed but traders said it could be over US$30/ton to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis. Separately, ONGC sold a 35,000 ton naphtha cargo for March 21-22 loading from Mumbai to Petro-Diamond, which has been scooping up several Indian spot lots recently. This could not be directly confirmed as buyers and sellers do not usually reveal their deals. ONGC also exports naphtha from Hazira.