ONGC deals lift India April exports

Singapore, Apr 5: Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) sold naphtha for loading in April and May at lower premiums, helping lift India's exports this month to 580,000 tonnes, the highest in four months, industry sources said on Thursday.

Separately, ONGC has offered a 35,000-tonne cargo for loading on May 22-23 from Hazira port on the west coast via tender to close on April 17. It will remain valid until April 18, a tender document said.

The Indian refiner sold a 35,000-tonne parcel for April 16-18 loading from Jawahar Lal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) to Japanese trading house Itochu Corp. , and another 35,000-tonne cargo for May 7-8 loading from Hazira to Petrodiamond Singapore, sources said.

The Indian refiner sold the JNPT-loading cargo at around a tonne to Middle East spot quotes, on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, while it sold the Hazira-loading cargo at - a tonne to the same quote, FOB, they said.

The tenders helped raise April exports to the highest level since January and above last year's monthly average of about 520,000 tonnes, based on public tender sales, likely to further deflate naphtha's premium to Brent crude.

The naphtha crack hit a record-high of 0 a tonne last month, but eased to 0 by Wednesday, as the market absorbed delayed Middle Eastern term cargoes and European arbitrage stems.

ONGC's previous tender to sell a Mumbai-loading cargo for late March was awarded to Emirates National Oil Co. (ENOC) at a high premium of about a tonne to Middle East spot quotes, FOB, due to shortages after India exported less than 500,000 tonnes of naphtha earlier this year.

From Hazira, the refiner sold one cargo for late April at around a tonne above the same quotes, FOB, to South Korea's SK Corp. in March.

Reuters