Asia Naphtha/Gasoline-Naphtha margins above $40/T

SINGAPORE, June 27 (Reuters) - Asia's naphtha price was at a
two-session low on Wednesday at $731.50 a tonne while margins
held above $40 a tonne for the second day after hovering below
$30 a tonne for about two weeks.

Spot demand and lower exports to Asia from India and Europe
have boosted spot prices and offset the higher spot volumes
coming out of the Middle East.

"There are not many barrels from Europe arriving in
first-half August in Asia. That has supported spot prices," said
a trader.

LG Chem emerged to buy spot cargoes for first-half August
arrival. Traders said the South Korean petrochemical maker could
have bought a 25,000-tonne open-spec naphtha cargo for
first-half August arrival at Yeosu at parity to Japan quotes on
a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis and 25,000 tonnes for its Daesan
cracker at premiums of $1.00-$1.50 a tonne.

But this could not be immediately verified.

Just days ago, Honam paid a discount for cargoes arriving in
second-half July.

Malaysia-based Titan was also out in the market and bought
30,000 tonnes of full-range naphtha for first-half August
arrival at a discount of $2.50 a tonne to Japan quotes on a C&F
basis.

Japan's Tonen was also seeking spot volumes this week but
details were not available.

Saudi Aramco has sold at least 55,000 tonnes of July naphtha
from its Ras Tanura refinery, bringing total spot volumes for
next month from Middle East suppliers to more than 500,000
tonnes.

The premiums Saudi Aramco received was about $15 per tonne
above Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, largely
steady compared to what it had fetched recently for another July
cargo. This reflected that buyers were unwilling to risk losing
the cargoes by bidding lower.

* NAPHTHA TENDERS: India's ONGC sold 35,000 tonnes naphtha
for July 14-15 loading from Hazira to Gunvor at about $19.50 a
tonne above Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis,
up about 39 percent compared to a sale for an end June cargo
also sold to Gunvor.

- Indian Oil Corp (IOC) offered around 35,000 tonnes of
naphtha for July 20-22 loading from Dahej in a tender closing on
July 4, with bids to stay valid until July 5.

- Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation will sell 170,000 barrels
of naphtha to Singapore's Trafigura at discount of $1.40 a
barrel to Singapore quotes, the lowest this year and sharply
lower than the previous sale in April.

GASOLINE CRACKS STAY FIRM

Gasoline margins were at a 2-1/2 week high of $5.53 a barrel
premium as seasonal peak demand in India supported the market.

Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) was seeking 22,000
tonnes of Euro III grade gasoline and/or 13,000 tonnes of Euro
IV grade for July 15-22 arrival at Mundra port in a tender
closing on June 28. Offers are to stay valid until June 29.

"HPCL has not bought gasoline recently. But it's the school
holidays in India, and this is usually the peak demand season,"
said a trader. [ID:nL3E8HR2NJ

* SINGAPORE CASH DEALS: Gunvor sold a 92-octane gasoline
cargo for June 12-16 loading to Trafugura at $97.40 a barrel,
making this the only light distillate deal in the cash market on
Wednesday.

* REFINERY NEWS: Japan's Taiyo Oil Co Ltd said on Wednesday
a small fire occurred in a storage area for liquefied petroleum
gas at its sole Shikoku refinery at 11 a.m. (0200 GMT) and was
extinguished by 11:18 a.m.

- Its 32,000 barrels per day No.2 crude distillation unit
remained in operation, but its 88,000 bpd No.1 CDU and 25,000
bpd fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) were shut for planned
maintenance.

LIGHT DISTILLATES
CASH ($/T) ASIA CLOSE Change % Change Prev RIC

Close
OSN Naphtha CFR Japan M1 731.50 -2.00 -0.27 733.50 NAF-1H-TYO
OSN Naphtha CFR Japan M2 731.50 -2.00 -0.27 733.50 NAF-2H-TYO
OSN Naphtha Diff 0.25 0.25 N/A 0.00 <NAF-TYO-DIF
Naphtha Netback FOB Sing 79.06 -0.22 -0.28 79.28 NAF-SIN
Naphtha Diff FOB Sing -0.14 0.03 -17.65 -0.17 <NAF-SIN-DIF
Naphtha-Brent Crack 42.47 -4.86 -10.27 47.33 <NAF-SIN-CRK
Gasoline 97 102.24 0.69 0.68 101.55 GL97-SIN
Gasoline 95 100.74 0.46 0.46 100.28 GL95-SIN
Gasoline 92 97.40 0.75 0.78 96.65 GL92-SIN
Gasoline crack 5.53 0.37 7.17 5.16 <GL92-SIN-CR

>

SWAPS ($/T) ASIA CLOSE Change % Change Prev RIC

(0830 GMT) Close
Brent M1 91.87 0.43 0.47 91.44
Naphtha CFR Japan M1 732.50 0.00 0.00 732.50 <NACFRJPSWMc

>
Naphtha CFR Japan M1/M2 -2.50 0.00 0.00 -2.50 <NACFRJPSDMc

>
Naphtha CFR Japan M2 735.00 0.00 0.00 735.00 <NACFRJPSWMc

>
Naphtha Japan-Sing Netback M1 19.70 0.45 2.34 19.25 <NAPTC4SPDMc

>
Naphtha Japan-Sing Netback M2 21.30 1.80 9.23 19.50 <NAPTC4SPDMc

>
Naphtha FOB Sing M1 79.20 -0.05 -0.06 79.25 <NAFOBSGSWMc

>
Naphtha FOB Sing M1/M2 -0.10 0.15 -60.00 -0.25 <NAFOBSGSDMc

>
Naphtha FOB Sing M2 79.30 -0.20 -0.25 79.50 <NAFOBSGSWMc

>
Naphtha Cracks M1 -10.20 -0.43 4.40 -9.77 <NACFRJPCKMc

>
East-West Naphtha M1 17.25 -2.50 -12.66 19.75
East-West Naphtha M2 16.75 -0.50 -2.90 17.25

715.25 2.50 0.35 712.75 <NAPCNWEAMc1
NWE Naphtha M1/M2 -3.00 2.00 -40.00 -5.00 <NAPCNWEASMc

>
NWE Naphtha M2 718.25 0.50 0.07 717.75 <NAPCNWEAMc2
Crack NWE Naphtha-Brent M1 -12.06 -0.37 3.17 -11.69 <NAPCNWEACMc

>
Crack NWE Naphtha-Brent M2 -11.87 -0.11 0.94 -11.76 <NAPCNWEACMc

>
*Sing refers to Singapore

(Reporting by Seng Li Peng; editing by Keiron Henderson)