India's HPCL sells April naphtha at steep discounts due to high chloride content, sources say (updated)

Hindustan Oil Exploration

07/04/2026 13:58

Updates with Trafigura's no-comment in paragraph 5

NEW DELHI, April 7 (Reuters) - Indian refiner HPCL sold two parcels of naphtha at deep discounts of about $380 and around $290 per ton to Middle East quotes for mid-April delivery due to high chloride content to energy trader Trafigura, six trade sources said on Tuesday.

The first parcel specified chloride content at maximum 170 parts per million as opposed to the usual 1 to 3 ppm and the volume was 21,000 tons, while the second parcel of 10,500 tons had it at 157 ppm, two of the sources said.

"It was an off-spec parcel ... the quality was not the best for gasoline blending as well," an official at a Middle Eastern energy trader said who declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Meanwhile, other sellers in India awarded naphtha tenders for similar time period at high premiums. India's Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd sold two parcels of on-spec naphtha between a premium of $180 to $240 per ton to Middle East quotes, two other sources added.

Trafigura declined to comment.

HPCL and BPCL did not immediately respond to Reuters' email request for comment.

Supply disruptions from the Middle East have sent naphtha premiums surging and have caused widespread run cuts at steam crackers across Asia.

HPCL said in a statement to the National Stock Exchange in October that it was facing "operational issues" at its Mumbai refinery after processing of contaminated oil that it had sourced from Hindustan Oil Exploration Company.

"Potential reasons are the very high salt and chloride content in the crude oil," it added.

 (Reporting by Mohi Narayan and Nidhi Verma; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

 ((Mohi.Narayan@thomsonreuters.com; https://twitter.com/_mohi_;))