India’s ONGC offers second Jan Nile Blend

SINGAPORE, Dec 5 (Reuters) – India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has offered a second cargo of Sudanese Nile Blend crude for January, the first time in over a year that it offered two cargoes for a given month, tender documents showed on Friday.

The tender, for 600,000 barrels of Nile Blend crude to be lifted Jan. 16-20, closes on Dec. 11 and is to remain valid until Dec. 12.

Last month, ONGC sold a first cargo of Nile Blend crude for January loading to European trader Arcadia at a discount of between $5 and $6 a barrel to Dated Brent, the deepest discount since the grade was linked to Dated Brent a year ago.

Demand for Nile Blend has fallen amid weakening oil demand.

Sudan’s state oil Sudapet cancelled its tender for January crude after received bids lower than $8.00 a barrel to Minas Indonesia Crude Price (ICP).

Output at the Greater Nile project, where Nile Blend is produced, has fallen below 250,000 bpd, well off the field’s 325,000 bpd peak, leading to lower sales for ONGC, which holds a 25 percent stake in the project.