- Demand was mostly muted from South Korea and demand for June cargoes was seemingly slower than that for May.

- Spot premiums for cargoes delivering to South Korea in first-half June this week were down compared to cargoes scheduled for second-half May as delivery effects of weaker fundamentals were felt.

TENDERS: India's Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) on Wednesday sold 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for May 1-2 loading from Kochi to Gunvor at premiums of about $23 a tonne to its own price formula on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, traders said.

- BPCL had previously sold up to 40,000 tonnes of naphtha for April 15-16 loading from the same port at premiums of $24 a tonne on a FOB basis to Japanese Petro-Diamond.

- BPCL is planning on starting a trading office in Singapore and operations could begin by September.

- This would make it the second Indian state refiner after Indian Oil Corp to have an office in the city-state.

- Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) was seeking 25,000 tonnes of gasoline for May 5-6 loading through a tender closing on April 20.