Sudan puts off Nile Blend Crude sale

February 26, 2010 (LONDON) — Sudapet, Sudan’s state-owned oil firm, stopped the sale of a cargo of Nile Blend Crude expecting to get better prices, traders in Singapore said today.

The Sudanese firm had sold a 1-million-barrel April-loading Nile Blend cargo to European trader Trafigura at a discount of about $3.50 to the Minas Indonesia Crude Price (ICP) via tender. However, the cargo would be reoffered as the company considers the price too low.

Prices in Sudapet’s previous tender for Nile Blend ranged from discounts of slightly more than $3 a barrel to slightly more than $2 to the Minas ICP.

India’s state oil and natural gas corp (ONGC), which holds a 25 percent stake in the Greater Nile project, earlier this month sold a 600,000-barrel Nile Blend cargo to trader, Chinaoil, for loading in March at a discount of $2.40 a barrel to the Minas ICP in a tender.

Nile Blend Crude Oil is a paraffinic crude oil with a high wax content, high pour point (+30°C to +36°C) and high wax appearance temperature (+39°C and above). It requires careful handling during loading, carriage and discharge with regard to the cargo temperature.

While the other Sudanese product, Dar Blend crude is heavily discounted because of its highly acidic content. US sanctions against the purchase of Sudanese goods also keeps many companies away.

Sudapet has issued a tender to sell 1.6 million barrels of Dar Blend for loading in April, traders said. The tender closes on March 3 and the award was expected by the end of next week.

In its last Dar Blend tender, Sudapet was heard to have sold a 1-million-barrel cargo to Vitol and a 600,000-barrel shipment to FAL, a United Arab Emirates-based trading company.

Discounts for recent Dar Blend cargoes have ranged between $7.90 and $8.30 to dated Brent.

(ST)