ET:Asia Crude-Vietnam sells Bunga Kekwa on dated Brent for 1st time
SINGAPORE: Vietnam's state oil marketer PV Oil sold via tender Bunga Kekwa crude for August loading at a premium to dated Brent, pricing the cargo on this benchmark for the first time, traders said on Wednesday.
The change in price reference follows Malaysia's switch to dated Brent as the basis for pricing its crude after falling output and volatility made the previous benchmark, put in place more than a decade ago, unreliable.
PV Oil likely sold the 300,000-barrel cargo to an end user at a strong premium between $4 and $5 a barrel to dated Brent, traders said, although this could not be confirmed.
The grade which has a high mercury content is usually priced $2-$3 a barrel below Malaysian flagship Tapis, a trader said.
Last week, Petronas sold 600,000 barrels of Tapis crude for August loading at a premium of $5.70 a barrel to dated Brent.
