With many refineries in North Asia scheduled to resume operation following a shutdown for maintenance, premium on naptha has declined in the international market.

Industry sources informed that June premiums were weaker than May premiums owing to expectations rise in supply of naptha as refineries resume operation.

As an indication of fall in premium, Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) received a price of about $25 a tonne to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis when it recently sold a June naphtha cargo to oil major Shell. This is said to be a fall of 39 per cent in premiums from a previous deal for May. The 35,000-tonne cargo is scheduled for June 4-5 loading from Mumbai.

Separately, ONGC's subsidiary Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals (MRPL) sold 35,000 tonne of naphtha for June 24-26 loading to Unipec at a premium of about $31 a tonne to Middle East quotes on a FOB basis.

That was similar to what Itochu had paid recently for an MRPL cargo loading on June 13-15.