Petroecuador Tenders to Buy 3.84m bbls of Naphtha

State-run oil company Petroecuador has launched tenders to buy a total volume of 3.84 million barrels of naphtha for delivery in the coming month at Esmeraldas, La Libertad or Punta Arenas ports, according to invitations seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Petroecuador has been this year ramping up purchases of fuels in anticipation of a major overhaul at the 110,000 barrel per day (bpd) Esmeraldas refinery, which this month started a 14-month upgrade.

The company is this time requesting 1.2 million barrels of naphtha RON 87 for delivery in five 240,000-barrel cargoes starting on August 25-27; and 11 cargoes, same size, of high octane naphtha RON 93, starting delivery on September 1-3.

The company expects to receive minimum one cargo of naphtha every two months and one monthly cargo of high octane naphtha.

Bids will be received until August 7-11 and they must be indexed to prices of unleaded gasoline 87 from the U.S. Gulf Coast.

(Reporting by Marianna Parraga)