Reliance Industries January Naphtha exports down by half vs December

SINGAPORE: Reliance Industries has sold 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for end-January loading from Sikka to oil major Shell, bringing its total exports through tenders for next month to about 110,000 tonnes, half the volumes it sold for December.

The medium-range vessel size cargo was sold on Dec. 20 at a premium of about $31 a tonne to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.

This was about 35 per cent higher than the premium Reliance achieved in a previous sale to trading firm Gunvor for similar volumes for Dec. 26-30 loading from Sikka.

Upcoming refinery maintenance and a recent current power outage may have affected Reliance's supplies, industry sources suggested, although the causes of the sharply lower export volumes could not be verified.

Reliance shut one of two crude units at its 660,000 barrels per day (bpd) plant in Jamnagar around Dec. 14 following a power outage.

The refiner, which operates the world's largest refining complex, is also likely to go ahead with a planned maintenance in February despite the recent unplanned shutdown, industry sources said.

Low overall Indian naphtha shipments to Asia since October have contributed to stronger spot premiums.