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SINGAPORE, July 4 (Reuters) - State-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) bought almost 4 million barrels of West African crude in its first tender for September-loading sweet crude, including 950,000 barrels of the new Angolan Saxi grade, traders said on Friday.
The cargoes bought included 980,000 barrels of Nigerian Yoho crude, its first spot purchase of the grade since it came onstream in 2003, according to Reuters records.
IOC also bought 1 million barrels of Angolan Girassol and 950,000 barrels of Nigerian Erha crude in the tender.
Saxi, which is expected on stream this month, is Angola's newest crude.
With an American Petroleum Index (API) of 32.7, and a sulphur content of 0.30 percent, according to the grade's pre-production assay, the grade is a medium-light sweet crude.
Its acidity stands at 0.64 KOH/gm, below the 1.00 level above which crudes are usually considered acidic.
IOC's purchase of the new grade, and of the light sweet Yoho crude, comes as it has been looking to vary the source of its crudes.
"They are diversifying as instructed by the Indian government," a Singapore-based trader said.
IOC relies heavily on Nigeria for its imports of spot sweet crudes via tenders, but a wave of attacks has cut production by a fifth since early-2006 and supply disruptions have become a regular feature there.
The refiner bought 1 million barrels of Gabonese sweet Rabi Light crude in a tender for Aug. 1-10 sweet crude last week, only the second time that it had bought the grade.
European major BP sold the Saxi and Erha cargoes, with Saxi traded at a discount of $4.95-5.00 a barrel to Dated, and Erha at a premium of around $4.90, traders said.
August Saxi crude was last seen traded at around a $6 discount.
Angolan state oil company Sonangol sold Yoho at a premium of $5.80-5.85, stronger than the premiums last reported for August, and Girassol at a discount of $2.35, they added.
IOC bought 6 million barrels of sweet crude for August loading, well below the hefty 12 million barrels of West African crude, 600,000 barrels of Libyan Mellitah and 600,000 barrels of Malaysian Miri it bought for July.
IOC has about 10 refineries spread across India for a total capacity of 1.204 million bpd. (Reporting by Maryelle Demongeot; Editing by Ramthan Hussain)
