Two January tenders for Sudan Nile blend crude issued
November 18, 2008 (SINGAPORE) – Sudan and India simultaneously issued new tenders to sell 500,000 and 600,000 barrels respectively of the Nile blend crude.
Both tenders made the offers for crude shipment to be delivered in January.
Sudan’s offer comes after skipping spot sales for December for unknown reasons. The volume of the current tender is almost 50% less than the average of 1-1.2 million barrels per month (bpm).
The Greater Nile project which produces this heavy sweet, high-quality, Nile Blend crude has experienced diminishing productivity lately from 325,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 200,000.
Sudan’s tender closes on Nov. 19 and bids are valid until Nov. 20.
State oil firm Sudapet had skipped spot sales for October and December, although it sold November-loading Nile Blend crude to ChinaOil at a about $2 a barrel.
Limiting its export capacity, Sudan agreed in August to export 500,000 barrels a month of crude to Kenya.
On the other hand India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), which holds a 25 percent stake in the project, has briefly stopped issuing monthly tenders to sell Nile Blend, as output has fallen and it is keeping some of its equity for its subsidiary Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL).
It awarded November-loading Nile Blend crude to Chinaoil at a discount of about $2 a barrel to Dated Brent.
(ST)