Libya rebel oil cargo to refuel in Singapore: Update

A tanker with the first major oil shipment from rebel-held east Libya, reported to be 80,000 tonnes of crude, is expected to arrive in Singapore on Thursday for refuelling.

“The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore has received pre-arrival notification that the tanker Equator will be calling at the Port of Singapore on April 28,” said an agency spokeswoman on Wednesday.

“Equator will be granted port clearance for entry so long as the vessel meets normal statutory requirements,” she added.

 

The Liberia-registered tanker Equator left the rebel-held east Libyan port of Marsa el Hariga three weeks ago, carrying fuel exports vital to financing the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi.

 

The Aframax tanker is expected to make a brief stop in Singapore to refuel and then depart for a Chinese port, either Ningbo or Dalian, traders and shipbrokers said.

 

 When it passed through Suez earlier this month, a canal official said the tanker was carrying 80,000 tonnes, or the equivalent of 550,000 barrels of oil.

 

The buyer of the cargo, which is being managed by trading house Vitol, was not immediately clear. Vitol has not commented on its Libyan transactions.

 

Oil traders told Reuters that finding a buyer for the cargo was not straight-forward, with many of the usual traders still worried about legal complications related to the ownership of oil and international sanctions.

 

“There are all sorts of title issues. Even with oil from east Libya, you could end up with a legal quagmire if, say, Eni (ENI.MI) turns around later and says, ’This was our oil’,” said a trade source with a firm that formerly shipped Libyan crude to Asia and opted not to buy the cargo.

 

Trading firm Trafigura also said it was in talks to export oil out of east Libyan ports, but no shipment has yet been confirmed.

 

The rebels’ Libyan National Council, with the help of OPEC member Qatar, has been able to export a minimal amount of crude and has requested international help to continue overseas shipments.

 

More than a month of air strikes in a British and French-led NATO mission have failed to dislodge Gaddafi or bring major gains for anti-government rebels who hold much of east Libya.