London, July 10: Iraq has awarded its second post-war crude oil tender to at least four companies, including a US oil major and a trading house, with most of the oil heading to the US, market sources said on Tuesday. Officials at ChevronTexaco and BP both confirmed their companies had each won 2m barrels of the tender, which totalled 8m barrels of Basrah Light crude. US refiners reported trading house Taurus offering Basrah crude in the US Gulf Coast, indicating it had also taken a stem. Brazilian state firm Petrobras was said to have taken the last stem, but this was later thrown into doubt by talk that Royal Dutch/Shell had also won a cargo, other market sources said. A spokesman at Petrobras said the company refused to comment on the tender. The tender, the first with Iraqi oil produced after the US-led attack, closed on Monday.
Pricing details were not immediately available, although dealers said some bids were thought to have been made at above West Texas Intermediate -$5, the US oil benchmark. The Taurus cargo was likely to lift around July 10. Bureau Report