SINGAPORE, Jan 15- Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) and parent company Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) sold at least 130,000 tonnes of naphtha for February-May lifting, with spot premiums for next month taking a hit due to incoming Western naphtha, traders said on Friday.
ONGC sold 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for Feb. 10-11 lifting from Hazira to Total at a premium of about $38.00 a tonne to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.
It sold another 35,000 tonnes for Feb. 14-15 from Mumbai to Petro-Diamond at a premium of around $34.00 a tonne FOB.
Although Indian exports in February, estimated at around 800,000 tonnes, are not expected to surpass January's levels seen around 900,000 tonnes, ONGC's spot premiums were affected by Western barrels.
Previously, ONGC managed to fetch steep premiums of $47.00-$50.00 tonne FOB for four spot parcels lifting from Hazira and Mumbai in January.
As for MRPL, it's tender was for three cargoes at 30,000 tonnes each, to be lifted from March-May.
Japanese trader Marubeni took the April and May parcels at premiums below $20.00 a tonne to Middle East quotes on a FOB basis.
Oil major Shell took the remaining March cargo.
But when you add all the premiums of all three cargoes together, the average price is roughly about $23.00 a tonne," said a trader.
MRPL had previously sold three 30,000-tonne cargoes to Shell, with each parcel to be lifted from December-February.
Premiums for those cargoes ranged from $16.00-$26.00 a tonne FOB.
Cracks, premiums/losses obtained from refining Brent crude into naphtha, rebounded to a 3-½ week high on Thursday at $173.60 a tonne.
This came after Asia's top naphtha buyer Formosa Petrochemical Corp bought around 150,000 tonnes of naphtha for second-half February.
Source : REUTERS