Exxon Mobil Corp will move a prompt 37,000-tonne naphtha cargo from Rotterdam to Singapore for loading during end-March, a rare shipment for the US oil major, trading sources said on Monday.
Exxon had chartered a vessel from ST Shipping, Glencore's shipping arm, to load the cargo from March 29, which traders said would most likely be heavy-grade naphtha that could ultimately be diverted to Japan. "The heavy naphtha could be used as their own refinery feed," said a trader. Heavy naphtha is commonly used as a feedstock for refinery catalytic reformers to produce gasoline components, or reformates.
A trader said the shipment might be fixed to meet gasoline demand in Japan, as the country gears up for the summer driving season starting in late April. Japan's gasoline inventories rose by 136,000 kl to 2.27 million kl for the week to March 15, industry data showed, and analysts said the country's motor fuel inventories was nearly 2 percent higher from a year earlier in that week. This signalled that the Japanese refiners were already starting to stock pile for the driving season.
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