Asia Fuel Oil-India IOC issues 4th tender in a mth

SINGAPORE, Apr 28 (Reuters) Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) issued its fourth fuel oil export tender in a month, bringing its total volume offered and sold so far to 156,000 tonnes on soaring Asian prices and high refinery runs, traders said on Friday.

The state-run refiner, India's largest, has offered two 180-centistoke cargoes totalling 48,000 tonnes for May-loading, on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.

The first is a 30,000-tonne parcel, of 4 percent sulphur and 0.995 kg per cubic metre density, for May 17-21 loading from Chennai.

The second, an 18,000-tonne lot of similar specification with 0.991 kg per cubic metre density, is for May 21-25 lifting from Haldia. The tender closes on May 3 and will remain valid till a day later.

A day earlier, IOC sold two similar parcels, for early May loading to Vitol Asia and BP.

Vitol bought the 30,000-tonne lot, for Chennai loading, at a discount of .50-.50 a tonne to Singapore spot quotes, FOB, while BP bought the Haldia parcel at a discount of about .50 a tonne to spot quotes, FOB.

Including the current offerings, state-owned IOC has sold or offered 156,000 tonnes of April- and May-loading cargoes in the past month, compared to none in the same period last year.

''The high prices must really work for them. It has been a long time since IOC sold these many cargoes in such a short time. The only reason I can think of is the high outright prices,'' a Mumbai-based trader said.

Indian refiners have sold or offered an unusually high total of about 976,000 tonnes for April-October loading in the last two months due to strong Singapore benchmark prices, high refinery runs, an increase in refining capacity as some new units come onstream, as well as flat domestic demand.

For May-loading parcels, refiners have sold or offered 336,000 tonnes, up from 165,000 tonnes in the same month last year.

Asian fuel oil prices for the benchmark 180-cst grade hit an all-time monthly high of 0.00 a tonne as of Thursday and breached record-high daily levels four times in the last eight trading sessions.

Indian refineries have been running flat out since the beginning of the year. Crude processing at the countries' 18 refineries rose 9.4 percent in March from year-ago levels despite having turnarounds during the month.

REUTERS CS PM0926