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ONGC Sells Sudan Nile Blend Crude for January At a Record Premium to Arcadia

  • India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp ( ONGC) sold 620,000 barrels of Nile Blend crude for January loading at a record premium for the grade after a dispute between the Sudanese governments over pipeline transit fees reduced supplies.The cargo to load on Jan. 16-31 was sold to European trader Arcadia at a premium of $3 a barrel to the Minas Indonesia Crude Price (ICP), traders said on Monday. Strong demand for direct-burning crude from Japanese utilities also underpinned Nile Blend's price, they said.Sudan blocked landlocked South Sudan's exports in a transit fee row since Nov. 28, stepping up a row between the former civil war foes over how to untangle their once-integrated oil industries.The two governments have agreed to include international oil companies in talks to resolve a dispute over how much the new African nation should pay to use Khartoum's oil export facilities, officials said last week.South Sudan has sold Dar Blend crude exports for January, but it did not offer any Nile Blend cargoes. It last sold a Nile Blend cargo for December loading at the highest premium in at least four years.

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