Reliance sells term diesel to Trafi, IPG, Galana

NEW DELHI: India's Reliance IndustriesLtd has awarded its term tender to sell diesel to traders Trafigura, Kuwait'sIPG and Africa-focused Galana as it prepares for a surge in supply later thisyear, trade sources said on Wednesday.

Reliance's new 580,000 bpdrefinery at Jamnagar in western India is expected to come on stream in July,adding to the exports already coming from its existing 660,000 bpd plant.

The 0.05 percent sulphur diesel cargoes -- offered in threedifferent sizes of 40,000 tonnes, 60,000 tonnes and 80,000 tonnes -- wereawarded at a premium of around $6 a tonne to Arab Gulf quotes, the sources saidon condition of anonymity.

It was not immediately clear how much ofits diesel production Reliance had sold on a term basis.

It awarded around a dozen cargoes to Kuwait's InternationalPetroleum Group, around eight to nine cargoes to Trafigura and four to fivecargoes to Galana, a Dubai-based trader, they said.

Trafigura willlift 40,000-60,000 tonne cargoes, but the parcel size offered to IPG and Galanawas not immediately clear.

It was also not clear whether oil majorBP and Brazil's Petrobras, which had won last year's term tender, would continueto lift any diesel, one trade source said.

The tender includessupplies from the new refinery as well as the existing plant, the sources said,as Reliance seeks to balance third-party deals with its own direct sales.

"We are selling products to U.S., Europe, Middle East and southAfrica. We will increase supplies to wherever we were supplying," a top Relianceofficial said.