Sudan makes offer for 1.6 million barrels of Dar Blend crude

April 22, 2009 (TOKYO) — Sudan has issued a new tender to sell 1.6 mil barrels of heavy sweet Dar Blend crude for June loading, traders told Reuters today.

This brand of crude is usually heavy discounted due to its highly acidic content, while US sanctions against the purchase of Sudanese goods also keeps many companies away.

However it is mainly used to for fuel oil blending. This tender will close on April 28, traders said.

The Malaysian state oil company PETRONAS managed to sell three cargoes of May-loading Dar Blend crude with the most recent one at a discount of $11.40 a barrel to dated Brent oil.

Sudan is heavily dependent on oil exports which have declined sharply in terms of proceeds and volume in the wake of a financial crisis that swept developed nation and caused demand to plunge.

The governor of Sudan central Bank Saber Al-Hassan told Reuters today that growth rates have dipped because of drop in oil revenues.

(ST)