UPDATE 2-Kuwait cuts naphtha term offer in surprise move

(Adds acceptance, comments, background)

By Seng Li Peng

SINGAPORE, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) has for the first time cut its term naphtha offer to $13 a tonne premium, despite sealing a deal with one buyer at a higher price which would have been normally agreed by others, traders said on Friday.

The latest offer has been accepted by three buyers, but their identities were not known, trade sources said.

"KPC's full-range naphtha is especially popular with some petrochemical makers," one trader said.

The sources said that despite the latest acceptance, more termination of the contract may have also taken place after the revision, but this could not be immediately verified. Japanese trading houses Marubeni and Petro-Diamond December-November contracts were terminated recently when the talks were ongoing, traders said.

KPC's latest $1 reduction from the premium agreed with Taiwan's CPC this week, could have been prompted by strong resistance from customers including South Korea's Hanwha and YNCC, Japan's Mitsui Chemical and Maruzen as well as India's Haldia Petrochemicals, traders said. This unprecedented move could affect rival Abu Dhabi National Oil Co's (ADNOC) ongoing term talks, as it usually takes its cue from KPC, Asia's second-largest naphtha supplier after Saudi Arabia.

"This is the first time KPC had made such a move. In the past, once a buyer accepts a price, that's final and there will be no room for negotiation," said a trader.

The latest cut for KPC's December 2009-November 2010 naphtha supplies is the fourth since talks began on Oct. 12. It kicked off the offer at $19 a tonne premium to Middle East quotes, on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, and the latest came a day after CPC accepted its offer at a $14-premium.