Indian Oil Corp buys 80KT kerosene for Sept/Oct

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) has bought by tender 80,000 tonnes of kerosene for late September to October delivery, the same as its previous purchase, to cover scheduled plant maintenance, traders said on Tuesday.

European trader Vitol won the first 40,000-tonne cargo for delivery into Paradip/Haldia on Sept. 24-27, while state-run IOC awarded the second cargo to oil major Shell for arrival into the same port on Oct. 16-19.

The premium for both parcels was around $4.50-$5.00 a barrel to the IOC price formula, cost and freight basis.

"Indian demand will add to the strength of the market," said one trader.

IOC bought two kerosene cargoes in a previous tender at premiums of $4.60 a barrel for delivery from late August to September.

The strong buying partly helped to rally the benchmark jet-kerosene differential, which narrowed to minus 30 cents a barrel from minus $1.00 a barrel early this month.

IOC stepped up purchases because of planned refinery maintenance.

The refiner shut some units at its 274,000 barrels per day (bpd) Koyali plant in western Gujarat state from Aug. 8 for over 35 days, including a 40,000-bpd crude unit and a bigger crude unit of 60,000 bpd.

Its 120,000-bpd Haldia refinery in eastern India is scheduled to be closed for 25-30 days from Sept. 20 to revamp the power plant and add a gas turbine.