Asian Buyers Targeted as Kuwait Petroleum Offers August Naphtha Cargo

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation has offered 55,000 tonnes of full-range naphtha on delivery on an ex-ship basis for loading during August 20 to August 31 in a spot tender, the company said in a document seen by Reuters on Thursday.

The company issued the tender for Asian markets, stating in the offer that the, "product shall be destined to East of Suez and shall not be resold or re-delivered elsewhere without seller’s prior written consent, which shall not be unreasonably withheld."

KPC typically offered naphtha on free-on-board basis before the US-Iran war started. It resumed cargo offers in June, the first time since the war began in February.

The company said the cargo will be delivered from the tanker LV Estia, or a substitute acceptable to the buyer.

Kuwait exported about 200,000 barrels per day of naphtha on average in the first two months of this year, which plummeted to near zero in April, data from shiptracker Kpler showed. Its exports in the last two months have remained a small fraction of pre-war levels.

Oil companies typically do not comment on tenders.

(Reporting by Mohi Narayan in New Delhi, Ahmad Ghaddar in London; Editing by Louise Heavens and Susan Fenton)