ONGC sells 70,000 tonnes for Dec

SINGAPORE, Nov 20 (Reuters) India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) has sold via tender a 35,000-tonne naphtha cargo each to Itochu and Vitol for December loading, traders said on Monday.

Details are as follows: TONNE LOADING/PORT SELLER PRICE(FOB/T) 35,000 Dec. 8-10/Mumbai Itochu N/A 35,000 Dec. 16-17/Hazira Vitol ME+$11/$12 ONGC last month sold a similar cargo to Emirates National Oil Co. at a premium of about $1 a tonne to Middle East spot quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis for loading from Mumbai between Nov. 11-13 or Nov. 15-17.

For the Hazira-loading cargo, ONGC sold last month a cargo to Shell at a premium of around $9 a tonne to Middle East spot quotes on an FOB basis for Nov. 24-25 loading.

The naphtha market has improved slightly over the past month, as a heavy bout of cracker maintenance shutdowns across Asia was completed by end-November and helped to restore demand, while regional supplies have been drawn lower by reduced production to help boost refining margins, traders said.

REUTERS SBA BD1932