NEW DELHI (Reuters) - State-run Indian Oil Corp has floated a tender seeking 2 million barrels of Iraq's Basra light oil for May loading, a tender document showed, as the South Asian nation seeks to fill its first strategic petroleum reserve (SPR).
India has asked its biggest refiner IOC and another state refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp. to buy two very large crude carriers each or 8 million barrels of Basra Light oil for the SPR at Vizag on the east coast.
IOC has also floated another tender seeking a million barrels of high sulphur oil for April 8-17 loading, another tender document showed.
Both tenders will close on Wednesday and the bid will remain valid until Thursday, the documents showed.
"IOC is seeking just 2 million barrels of Basra Light to avoid any spike in the prices of Dubai-linked crudes," a trade source said.
HPCL is expected to issue a similar tender for Basra oil after the award of the IOC's tender, a source privy to the matter said.
(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; editing by Susan Thomas)
