Repsol, BP and Mitsubishi win tenders to buy Ecuador crudes

HOUSTON, May 21 (Reuters) - Repsol (TLO: REP-U.TI - news) , BP (LSE: BP.L - news) and Mitsubishi (Dusseldorf: MBI.DU - news) will buy a total of 21 cargoes of Oriente and Napo crudes from Petroecuador between June and August after winning tenders launched earlier this month, traders told Reuters.

Petroecuador sells most of its crudes to Petrochina, but it also occasionally tenders to sell crude on the open market.

This week the company also awarded to U.S. firm Citizens Energy another tender to buy 18 cargoes of ultra low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) to be received in Ecuador in the coming months.

Repsol agreed to pay $5.90 per barrel below the WTI price for five 360,000 barrel cargoes of medium Oriente crude and BP will pay $4.04 per barrel under the WTI price for another parcel of five Oriente cargoes, the sources said.

The British company also won a third parcel of Oriente crude with a bid of WTI minus $3.21 per barrel.

The first Oriente cargo will be picked up at Esmeraldas terminal on June 4-6, according to the tender's terms.

For the six 360,000 barrel cargoes of heavy Napo crude offered by Petroecuador, Mitsubishi won with an offer of $10.94 per barrel below WTI price, the sources added. The first Napo cargo must be delivered on June 10-12.

Oil and trading firms Unipec and Tesoro (Frankfurt: TX5.F - news) also bidded for these tenders, launched on May 7.

Ecuadorian Napo and Oriente crudes are highly demanded by refining companies and international trading firms because they are good grades to mix with a growing offer of light crudes. (Reporting By Marianna Parraga)