Absent Sudan crude schedule suggests export delay
By Maryelle Demongeot
SINGAPORE, July 22 (Reuters) – Exports of Sudan’s new 140,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Dar Blend crude are likely to be at least two months behind schedule given the lack of any defined loading plan, traders close to the development said on Friday.
Sudanese authorities and foreign operators have yet to inform oil traders of any dates or volumes for exports, indicating that supplies may start flowing only in October, they said. Officials had earlier hoped to begin shipments in August.
Crude oil cargoes from Sudan and most of Africa typically trade about two months ahead of loading to give refiners time to schedule shipments and plan supplies.
Most September-loading cargoes of Sudan’s Nile Blend, its main export crude, have already been sold, traders said.
“We are still trying to figure out when exports will start. They might be looking at October,” a trading source close to the developments told Reuters.
Sudanese industry officials could not be reached for comment.
It was not clear whether exports were being hampered by delays in commissioning the new 490-km (305-mile) pipeline that will carry the crude from the southeast to the coast, or by production problems at the fields, operated by the Petrodar consortium.
Malaysia’s Petronas [PETR.UL] holds 40 percent and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) 41 percent in the group, while state oil firm Sudapet has an 8 percent stake.
Sudapet has also not yet selected a trading company to market its share of production internationally, another sign that output is not imminent, a trader involved in the tenders said.
Heavy sweet Dar Blend crude was initially due to come onstream in July in the Melut basin on blocks 3 and 7.
The field will have an initial output of 140,000 bpd and will be ramped up to 200,000 bpd, almost doubling Sudan’s production to 500,000 bpd.
Dar Blend, with an API gravity of 26.42, has a low sulphur content of 0.116 percent. But its high acid number of 2.4 will make it difficult to market.
Sudan is planning to export as much higher-quality Nile Blend crude as it could, while processing maximum volumes of the high-acidity Dar Blend crude and exporting oil products.
This would require Sudan to build a new refinery to process the crude. The country has been discussing with Malaysia’s Petronas to build a 100,000-bpd refinery.
An agreement is expected this summer and if reached, the refinery would be completed by end 2008.