Asia Naphtha/Gasoline-Premiums surge on limited Europe shipments

SINGAPORE, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Asian naphtha premiums surged, with spot barrels fetching more
than three-month high levels, as lower Indian exports and limited European shipments to Asia
curbed supply.
Indian Oil Corp sold a naphtha cargo loading from Dahej on Sept. 18-20 to Unipec at a
premium of $34.50 a tonne above its pricing formula, a four-month high and about 20 percent
higher than an August-loading cargo, traders said.
India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) sold a Sept. 23-24 cargo loading from Hazira, also to
Unipec, at a premium of $39.30 a tonne above Middle East quotes, a more than 50 percent increase
from a mid-September loading cargo sold to Total earlier.
ONGC last sold a Hazira cargo at a higher premium for early-June loading to Independent
Petroleum Group (IPG) at $51 a tonne premium.
"Naphtha has been strengthening quite a bit as arbitrage is closed and there is a strong
gasoline support in Europe and in the U.S.," said a trader.
Refinery maintenance around Europe is expected to keep supply tight and support prices
there, which in turn is pushing up premiums in Asia.
Support was also seen from South Korea's Honam Petrochemical which bought a naphtha cargo
for second-half October delivery at a premium of about $11-$11.50 a tonne above Japan quotes,
which is about $1-2 a tonne higher than a previous cargo, a trader said. But the price details
and seller could not be immediately be confirmed.
Going forward, the supply situation might ease with Libya's largest oil refinery, Ras Lanuf,
resuming operations, though that depends on the running ratio of the refinery, a second trader
said.
Ras Lanuf, which exports a significant amount of naphtha into the Mediterranean, resumed
operations last week after shutting during the uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi last year.

Meanwhile, India's Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) sold a Haldia cargo to Glencore at a premium
of $3 a tonne, $9 lower than an earlier cargo sold for August loading, traders said.
The fall in premiums is due to the higher than normal content of gasoline additive methyl
tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) in the cargo, they said.
With gasoline demand from Indonesia and Vietnam set to fall, gasoline margins have dropped
in Asia, they added.
In Sri Lanka, Ceylon Petroleum Corp (Ceypetco) bought a gasoil and gasoline combination
cargo from Indonesian company Bumi Siak.
It paid premiums of $6.99 a barrel for the 90-octane gasoline portion, and $6.69 a barrel
for the 95-octane portion.

* NAPHTHA TENDERS: BPCL has offered 35,000 tonnes for Oct. 2-4 loading. The tender closes on
Sept. 5 and is valid until Sept. 6.

* SINGAPORE CASH DEALS: One naphtha trade and two gasoline deals.
- Mabanaft sold a second-half October/second-half November naphtha cargo to Vitol at a
premium of $11 a tonne.
- Chevron sold 50,000 barrels of 92-octane gasoline to Trafigura at $119.90 a barrel.
- Gracewood bought 50,000 barrels of 92-octane gasoline from Vitol at $119.80 a barrel.

LIGHT DISTILLATES
CASH ($/T) ASIA CLOSE Chang % Prev RIC
Change Close
OSN Naphtha CFR Japan M1 996.50 10.50 1.06 986.00 NAF-1H-TYO
OSN Naphtha CFR Japan M2 985.50 11.50 1.18 974.00 NAF-2H-TYO
OSN Naphtha Diff 12.00 0.00 0.00 12.00 NAF-TYO-DIF
Naphtha Netback FOB Sing 108.49 1.16 1.08 107.33 NAF-SIN
Naphtha Diff FOB Sing 1.49 -0.69 -31.65 2.18 NAF-SIN-DIF
Naphtha-Brent Crack 137.38 0.68 0.50 136.70 NAF-SIN-CRK
Gasoline 97 125.40 0.30 0.24 125.10 GL97-SIN
Gasoline 95 123.00 0.30 0.24 122.70 GL95-SIN
Gasoline 92 119.80 0.30 0.25 119.50 GL92-SIN
Gasoline crack 5.25 -1.01 -16.13 6.26 GL92-SIN-CRK

SWAPS ($/T) ASIA CLOSE Chang % Prev RIC
(0830 GMT) Change Close
Brent M1 114.55 1.32 1.17 113.23
Naphtha CFR Japan M1 985.25 16.25 1.68 969.00
Naphtha CFR Japan M1/M2 9.25 -0.25 -2.63 9.50
Naphtha CFR Japan M2 976.00 16.50 1.72 959.50
Naphtha Japan-Sing Netback 11.45 -0.85 -6.91 12.30
M1
Naphtha Japan-Sing Netback 13.00 1.20 10.17 11.80
M2
Naphtha FOB Sing M1 108.20 1.90 1.79 106.30
Naphtha FOB Sing M1/M2 1.20 0.20 20.00 1.00
Naphtha FOB Sing M2 107.00 1.70 1.61 105.30
Naphtha Cracks M1 -6.11 0.51 -7.70 -6.62
East-West Naphtha M1 2.25 -3.00 -57.14 5.25
East-West Naphtha M2 12.75 -1.50 -10.53 14.25
NWE Naphtha M1 983.00 19.25 2.00 963.75
NWE Naphtha M1/M2 19.75 1.25 6.76 18.50
NWE Naphtha M2 963.25 18.00 1.90 945.25
Crack NWE Naphtha-Brent M1 -7.52 0.68 -8.29 -8.20
Crack NWE Naphtha-Brent M2 -8.25 0.56 -6.36 -8.81
*Sing refers to Singapore

(Reporting by Florence Tan and Jessica Jaganathan; Editing by Himani Sarkar)