Wednesday, June 19, 2002 05:18:10 AM

Indonesia Pertamina Buys 2.95M Bbl Crudes For Aug-Traders

SINGAPORE, June 14 (Dow Jones)--Indonesia's state oil company Pertamina (P.PTM) has bought by tender a total of 2.95 million barrels of crudes for August delivery, crude traders said Friday. 

The company bought two cargoes of 900,000 barrels each of Nigerian Qua Iboe and Brass River crudes, 900,000 bbl of Algerian Saharan Blend crude and 250,000 bbl of Pakistani Badin crude. 

Details on the prices of the crudes bought weren't immediately available. 

Traders said Pertamina's bumper crude purchases reflect weak market sentiment for regional sweet grades. 

A very narrow Brent-Dubai crude spread below US$1.50 a barrel largely made it possible to soak up alternative sweet crudes from those regions, traders said. 

In its last tender, Pertamina bought 600,000 bbl of Chinese Xijiang crude for July delivery at 70 U.S. cents a barrel premium to the Indonesian crude price. 

-By Nurul Darni, Dow Jones Newswires; 65-64154-064; nurul.darni@dowjones.com