OREANDA-NEWS. March 29, 2011. Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) sold a cargo of Sudanese Nile Blend crude at the strongest differential in two years on firm Japanese demand for the medium sweet grade. The Indian explorer sold 600,000 barrels of the crude to a Japanese refiner at 50-75 cents a barrel below the Minas Indonesia Crude Price (ICP), a person with direct knowledge of the deal said.

In its last tender, ONGC sold a 600,000-barrel cargo Nile Blend for February loading to PetroChina at USD 2.50 a barrel below the Minas ICP. Japan, the world's third-largest oil consumer, is ramping up output at refineries to boost supplies of fuels to plug shortages and compensate for lost production at plants in its north affected by this month's devastating 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami.

It is also seeking crude to generate power to make up for the 9,700 MW of nuclear capacity lost, or about a fifth of total capacity, while an estimated 10,800 MW of thermal power generation has also been off.