HOUSTON/SINGAPORE, April 5 (Reuters) - A cargo of MalaysianBintulu condensate bought by Royal Dutch Shell issailing to New Orleans, Louisiana, a trade source in Asiafamiliar with the matter said on Tuesday, in what appears to bethe first U.S. import of that grade of offshore oil according toThomson Reuters Trade Flows data.
The Polaris, a medium-range vessel, loaded 200,000 barrelsof the condensate at Malaysia's Bintulu terminal in earlyFebruary, before stopping at Singapore's Jurong Port to pick upanother parcel, the source said.
It sailed west from Jurong in late February toward theUnited States, around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, Reuters'vessel tracking data show.
A Shell spokesperson was not immediately available forcomment.
U.S. oil imports from Malaysia are rare. Market sources werebaffled when told about the shipment, and questioned whether itmade economic sense for the relatively small vessel to make themore than month-long journey.
The Polaris is carrying roughly 300,000 barrels of product,half the size of a typical Aframax cargo, Reuters data show.
The cost of a trip from Singapore to the U.S. Gulf Coastfell to roughly 54 percent of the World Scale rate in last weekof February, from 119 percent of the flat rate in early January,potentially opening an arbitrage to the United States, accordingto Reuters data.
Shell, through its Motiva joint venture with Saudi Arabia,operates a petrochemical and refinery plant in Norco, Louisiana,roughly 25 miles outside of New Orleans. The petrochemicalfacility can run light hydrocarbons to produce ethylene,propylene and butadiene.
In March, Shell and Saudi Aramco announced plans to break upthe joint venture, with Shell taking sole ownership of the Norcocomplex and nearby Convent refinery, which could allow thecompany to test new crudes for refining.
In January, the first import of Malaysian crude oil in 12months arrived at Par Pacific Holdings Inc's Honolulurefinery in Hawaii. That import included 630,000 barrels ofKikeh crude and 100,000 barrels of Tembikai oil.
The latest data from the Energy Information Administrationshows no U.S. imports of Malaysian crude from February 2010 to2015.
Bintulu condensate, which is produced by Malaysia's stateoil company Petronas, has a gravity of about 64 API degrees. Itis frequently blended with Bintulu light crude for exports. (Reporting by Liz Hampton and Marianna Parraga in Houston andFlorence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Richard Chang)
