June 02, 2007	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 16, 1428

SINGAPORE, June 1: Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has tendered to buy up to 750,000 tons of July-September fuel oil, down a third from the year-high volumes sought in the previous three-month cycle, a company official said on Friday.

The lower volumes were due to reduced requirements from utilities, which have more power from hydro-generation due to the monsoon, which starts next month, the official added.

The state oil firm is seeking up to 10 parcels of 65,000-ton high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO), and two 50,000-ton low-sulphur cargoes (LSFO), on cost-and-freight basis at FOTCO (Port Qasim) and Keamari, Karachi.

Six HSFO parcels, of 125-180-centistoke (cst) for July-August delivery, are on a firm basis while the other four, for August-September delivery, are on an optional basis.

PSO is also seeking one 170-cst parcel of up to 0.99 per cent sulphur on a firm basis while the other is optional.

The tender closes on June 25 and will remain valid till three days later.

PSO bought up to 1 million tons in its May-July tender, including eight firm cargoes at premiums of $13.69-$16.73 a ton to Middle East spot quotes, C&F, and another six optional parcels at premiums of $16.29-$19.23 from traders FAL Oil and Bakri.

It also bought one firm LSFO parcel at a premium of $56.96 a ton and another optional lot at a premium of $63.49.

Traders expect the current tender to be concluded at lower price levels due to a weaker benchmark East Asian market that has seen cargo differentials falling into discount for the first time in four months.—Reuters