BPCL sells March at firm premium

Singapore, Mar 20: Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (BPCL) has sold a prompt, high aromatic naphtha cargo at more than a tonne above Middle East spot quotes, traders said on Tuesday.

BPCL, not a regular spot seller of high and low aromatic naphtha, fetched the firm premium for the 30,000-tonne cargo from South Korea's top oil refiner SK Corp. , helped by tight supplies in the region, traders said.

''The premium was high as the grade was equivalent to pure heavy naphtha, which is limited in volumes and now traded in Japan at high prices,'' a trading source said. The cargo is set for March 25-30 loading from Mumbai, on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.

In contrast, BPCL sold term high aromatic naphtha cargoes at a premium of .88 a tonne to Middle East spot quotes to European trader Trafigura for second-half 2006 loading, FOB.

The ICE Brent/naphtha crack, which shows the naphtha market strength, rallied by a tonne to 2-3 on Monday, after hitting a record high of 0 last Tuesday, sparked by supply shortages amid bullish demand for petrochemical production.

Light naphtha is the feedstock used to produce ethylene and propylene, the basic building blocks for the chemical sector, while aromatic or heavy naphtha is used for gasoline, benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX) production.

Reuters