---

India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL) has issued three fuel oil tenders for the sale of 80,000 tonnes of fuel oil for delivery between March and May 2011.

The three cargoes are scheduled for lifting from New Mangalore on March 18-22, April 16-20 and May 14-18. The tenders close on Wednesday February 9 and will remain valid until the following day.

This week MRPL sold an 80,000-tonne low-density 380-centistoke (cst) fuel oil cargo to Japanese trading firm Itochu Corporation, due for loading from New Mangalore on March 8-10.

The cargo was sold at a premium of $6.00-$7.00 per tonne to Singapore spot quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis - the highest premium since 2004.

MRPL's previous 80,000-tonne cargo of 380-cst fetched the highest premium in five years at $4.50/$5.00 per tonne to Singapore spot quotes FOB. The parcel was sold to Sumitomo and is scheduled for lifting from New Mangalore on February 20-22, market sources said.

The six-year high prices have come during a period of tight supplies in the East Asian market. Western arbitrage inflows have averaged below 3 million tonnes for each of the last three months up until January.

Please find a list below of MRPL's fuel oil sell tenders since January.

Seller	Grade	Vol KT	Load date/port	Buyer/Price
MRPL	380-cst	80	May 14-18 Mangalore	Feb 9 (Feb 10)
MRPL	380-cst	80	Apr 16-20 Mangalore	Feb 9 (Feb 10)
MRPL	380-cst	80	March 18-22 Mangalore	Feb 9 (Feb 10)
MRPL	380-cst	80	Mar 8-10 Mangalore	Itochu +$6/+$7/T
MRPL	380-cst	80	Feb 20-22 Mangalore	Sumitomo $4.50/+$5/
MRPL	380-cst	80	Feb 10-12 Mangalore	Shell -$4.50/T
MRPL	380-cst	80	Jan 19-21 Mangalore	Totsa -$4/T
MRPL	380-cst	80	Jan 6-8 Mangalore	Totsa -$3.50/T

Source: Reuters