SINGAPORE: Asia's naphtha crack eased from a near 22-month high to a four-session low of $113.38 a tonne on Monday as strong Brent crude prices countered firm demand.
- Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical came forward to seek open-specification naphtha for Dec. 11-25 arrival at Mailiao through a tender closing on Oct. 31, with offers to stay valid until Nov. 1.
- This came shortly after it came forward to seek heavy naphtha for December arrival but results of the tender were not known.
- Demand for naphtha is expected to stay strong for the remaining year as crackers are running mostly on high rates to meet petrochemicals buying interest.
TENDERS: India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) sold last Thursday 30,500 tonnes of naphtha for Nov. 7-8 at about $13.50 a tonne premium to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis to Japan's Itochu.
- This was 42 percent higher versus an early October cargo which ONGC had sold to BP previously loading from the same port.
- Essar Oil has also sold a naphtha cargo last week, traders said.
- The refiner sold up to 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for Nov. 3-5 loading from Vadinar at premiums likely around the $14 a tonne to Middle East quotes on a FOB basis, they added.
TERM: Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) has pegged offers for pentane at $18 a tonne premium, followed by low-sulphur grade (East) at $16 a tonne premium, low-sulphur grade (West) and splitter naphtha at $15 a tonne premium respectively to its own price formula on a FOB basis.
- The fresh offers for 2018 are at least 120 percent higher versus the 2017 contract price.
GASOLINE: Asia's gasoline crack was unchanged at $10.06 a barrel.
REFINERY NEWS: Japan's JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corp has restarted its 140,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) No. 3 crude distillation unit (CDU) at the Mizushima-A refinery on Sunday after planned maintenance which started on Oct. 5.
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