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.