Saudi Aramco has sold four cargoes of straight-run A960 fuel oil for May loading from its Ras Tanura refinery, as the restart of its hydrocracker is delayed further, industry sources said.

This brings the total number of A960 cargoes offered to 11, since the hydrocracker suffered an outage in early March.

A US trading firm bought one cargo, Japan's Itochu took two lots, and France's Total purchased the fourth parcel.

The prices for the cargoes ranged from a premium of $2 to $4 a ton to Singapore spot quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, traders said.

Industry sources had previously said that the 44,000 barrels per day hydrocracker could restart around mid-May. – Reuters