(Adds details)
NEW DELHI, March 22 (Reuters) - India's Mangalore Refinery
and Petrochemicals Ltd has bought its first ever cargo
of Brazilian Tupi crude oil in a tender, two industry sources
said on Monday.
The 1-million-barrel cargo was sold by Royal Dutch Shell
for May delivery, he added.
The price was not immediately known.
The purchase comes after Indian state refiners had planned
to reduce Saudi crude imports by about a quarter in May in an
escalating stand-off with Riyadh following OPEC's decision to
ignore calls from New Delhi to help the global economy with
higher supply.
MRPL had been seeking sour crude in the tender, but had been
offered sweet crude at more competitive prices, the sources
said.
Brazilian Tupi crude is a popular grade with Chinese
independent refiners but their crude purchases have been slow
over the past weeks, partly because of an increase in cheap
Iranian oil inflows.
(Reporting by Nidhi Verma and Florence Tan, editing by Louise
Heavens)