BPCL seeks May crude

SINGAPORE, March 1 (Reuters) State-run refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) has issued a tender to buy sour and sweet crude for May loading, a trader said on Thursday.

Grade offers are due on Tuesday and offers have to remain valid until Wednesday, the source said.

BPCL bought 600,000 barrels of Malaysian Labuan crude for April loading from Petronas in its previous tender, the first time in 10 months that the refiner bought crude from Asia-Pacific.

BPCL operates a 240,000 bpd refinery in Mumbai beside its 150,000 bpd refinery in the southern Indian state of Kerala, run by its subsidiary Kochi Refineries Ltd. .

It also owns a majority stake in a 60,000 bpd refinery in north east India, run by Numaligarh Refinery Ltd.

REUTERS DKS PM1502