Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) has sold 25,000 tonnes of full-range naphtha for July loading, bringing its total spot exports this month to more than 70,000 tonnes, traders said on Friday.

This is the highest spot volume KPC had sold in a single month this year, Reuters data showed, but the reasons behind such high exports were not clear.

While KPC's July spot volume is equivalent to only one long-range vessel, traders said it was weighing on sellers' sentiment as the market was already grappling with high supplies coming to Asia from Europe and the Mediterranean.

"Asia is receiving more supplies from India to the Middle East and the west," a Singapore-based industry source said.

KPC does not regularly sell naphtha in the spot market as most of its cargoes are tied up through 12-month contracts.

It previously sold 50,000 tonnes of naphtha in the spot market for July 7-8 loading. Sources said the buyer was an oil major, but no further details were available.

KPC followed up with an offer of 25,000 tonnes for July 7-9 loading but traders said that this was later cancelled.

KPC replaced that offer with the current cargo scheduled for July 18-19 lifting, which traders said was sold to an oil major at premiums in the high single digits versus Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.

But this could not be independently verified. - Reuters