Year’s first naphtha deal between ONGC and Oman Trading

26-May-14

India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has sold 35,000 tons of naphtha to Oman Trading, traders said on Friday, making this the first deal between the two parties this year, Reuters data showed. Traders added that the premium of the cargo, scheduled for June 17-18 loading from Mumbai, was about US$40/ton to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis versus the average price of an Indian cargo scheduled for May loading at about US$36. Concerns over lower exports arriving in July versus June in Asia from Europe and the Mediterranean had boosted sellers' sentiment in the last two days. Separately, ONGC's subsidiary Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) has sold 50,000 tonnes of naphtha for July 13-15 lifting from New Mangalore to Itochu at a premium of about US$37/ton to Middle East quotes on a FOB basis. This is the second time in record that MRPL had sold cargoes of long-range vessel size instead of its previous usual size of 35,000 tons.