Naphtha At Record Highs

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) has offered term contracts for three naphtha grades at $28.00-$29.50 a tonne premiums to its own price formula on a free-on-board basis, making these its highest offers ever, traders said on Monday.

The offers, for July 2012-June 2013 lifting, are about 20-37 per cent higher than contracts for July 2011-June 2012, and the prices are likely to influence term talks Saudi Aramco is having with its customers this week.

ADNOC’s fresh offers for splitter naphtha were at $28 a tonne premium, followed by low sulphur grade at $28.50 a tonne premium and pentane naphtha at $29.50 a tonne premium, all for July 2012 to June 2013 lifting.

“Customers will resist these offers. The offers and buyers’ ideas are quite wide at about $10,” said a trader.

Buyers are to reply to ADNOC by Tuesday and they are likely to ask for lower premiums.

The company had held a meeting with buyers in Singapore last week and the official offers were made by Sunday via fax.

The naphtha market has weakened sharply as demand falls and supplies are expected to rise.

Taiwan’s Formosa has deferred naphtha shipments in view of lower cracker runs at its 2.93 million tonnes per year Mailiao cracking complex.

But more supplies are expected as Saudi Aramco has restarted a 225,000 barrels per day condensate splitter.

The unit is estimated to produce about 150,000 tonnes of A310 naphtha a month.