Tokyo: Brazilian state oil company Petrobras expects to sell up to 2 million barrels of oil to Asia every 60 days using the storage tanks it has on the Japanese island of Okinawa, Reuters reported.
Citing sector sources, Reuters said that Petrobras planned to send a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) from Roncador to Okinawa as of March, with subsequent shipments of the same size every two months, as part of a new commercial strategy.
This could increase the company's daily sales by over 33,000 barrels of oil per day to Asian customers, with the first shipment due to arrive in Okinawa at the end of March or beginning of April.
Brazilian oil is a good product for Asian needs, as China and South Korea have developed improvements over the last few years that make it possible to process heavier oil.
The export strategy will help Petrobras to split its shipments into smaller ships, as some refineries in Japan, Korea, China and Malaysia are unable to receive VLCCs.
In February 2009, Brazil signed a deal with China to provide 100,000 to 160,000 barrels of oil per day and hopes to be granted up to US$10 billion in loans to help develop its respective oil reserves.
Petrobras may also consider sending the oil it extracts in West Africa to Okinawa, although that was not the initial strategy for 2010, the sources said. [20/01/10]
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