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Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd.(MRPL) has issued an export tender for the sale of 80,000 tonnes of fuel oil for delivery next month.

The Indian refiner is offering a parcel of 380-centistoke (cst) fuel oil for loading on June 4-6 from New Mangalore on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.

The offer is understood to be the first fuel oil tender issued by MRPL since it sold three 80,000-tonne parcels of 380-cst for loading between March and May 2010, also from the south-west port of New Mangalore.

The three cargoes were reported to have been sold to energy trading company Vitol at a discount of approximately $2.30 per tonne to Singapore spot quotes, on a free on board (FOB) basis.

MRPL previously sold a 380-cst spot cargo for February 2-4 lifting to Russian oil trading and logistics firm Gunvor at a narrower discount of $1.50-$2.00 per tonne to Singapore spot quotes, FOB.

Since selling the three 80,000-tonne lots, the fuel oil market has weakened due to heavy arbitrage inflows for two consecutive months.

According to data for the week ending April 21st, stock levels in Singapore reached a record 25.7 million barrels, as Western supplies outpaced demand in Asia.

This month, six-month high arbitrage volumes of 3.7-3.9 million tonnes are due to arrive with 2.9- 3.0 million tonnes slated for May.

MRPL is located at Katipalla, north of Mangalore city. It is a state-of-the-art grassroots refinery with a production capacity of 190,000 barrels per day (bpd).

The company is a subsidiary of Indian petroleum firm Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC). Before it was acqured by ONGC in March 2003, MRPL was a joint venture between M/s Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and M/s IRIL & Associates.