Aramco Trading Company (ATC) paid a premium to IOC price formula on a free-on-board basis in the mid-$40 per tonne range for a 35,000-tonne cargo scheduled for Oct. 18-20 loading from Chennai and for a 35,000-tonne cargo for Nov. 3-5 loading from the same port.

These were the highest premiums IOC has fetched for naphtha sold out of Chennai since it sold a cargo to Unipec at a premium of about $55 a tonne in 2013, Reuters data showed. [NAP/TENDA]

Since the attacks, ATC has bought more than 120,000 tonnes of naphtha from Europe and about 130,000 tonnes from India, including the latest purchase from IOC and a previous deal with Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd.

It also has cargoes from Egypt but these were mostly locked in before the attacks.

(Reporting by Seng Li Peng; editing by Jason Neely)