LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Oil major BP issued a rareannual tender to buy diesel in northern Europe, showing largetraditional buyers are looking for ways to offset the impact ofa rise in premiums at Russian diesel tenders.
Over the past weeks, Russian producers Rosneft and Lukoilsold diesel for next year delivery at tenders at premiums oftendescribed by traders as unusually strong.
Vitol and BP were among traders and majors believed to havewon some volumes at those tenders.
On Friday, BP issued a tender to buy 300,000 to 420,000tonnes of ultra low sulphur diesel (ULSD) per month fornorthwest Europe in 2014, trading sources said.
The tender was for delivery on a cost-insurance-freight(cif) basis and closes at the end of next week, according totraders.
BP is usually a large buyer of diesel on a spot cif basiswhile Russian producers sell diesel on a free-on-board (fob)long-term basis, which does not include costs such as insuranceand freight.
"BP is a large cif spot diesel buyer. This term tender isunusual and it looks like a move to assess how cif term pricescompare with cif spot because spot prices for next year lookaggressive," one trader said.
European diesel differentials to gasoil futures have comeunder heavy pressure in recent months as large volumes areimported from Russia and the United States.
BP (BP.)