Brazil buys Indonesian crude

Brazil buys Indonesian crude

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Brazil has bought cargo of heavy, low
sulfur Indonesian Minas crude for the first time, traders said
yesterday.

"As far as I know, this is the first time that Minas has gone
to Brazil," said a trader with a major oil company.

Most traders in Asia agreed with this view.

Traders said that the 900,000-barrel cargo of Minas, loading
in March was sold by equity producer Texaco to Brazilian state-
owned oil firm Petrobras.

The price level for the trade was unclear, although some
traders said that it was likely around 10 U.S. cents per barrel
over ICP, on a free-on-board Indonesia basis.

Officials at Texaco were not willing to comment on the trade.

The Asian crude market has been under pressure since the start
of this year.

Refinery run cuts and mild weather has reduced demand from all
the main centers in Asia, prompting crude sellers to look at new
outlets outside the region.

For February loading, over three million barrels of Asian
crudes moved to the U.S. West and Gulf Coasts.