UAE selling Saudi oil from supertanker attacked in Gulf

By Nidhi Verma and Dmitry Zhdannikov

NEW DELHI/LONDON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates has offered to sell Saudi oil from a supertanker that was attacked and leaked off its coast, according to three trade sources and a tender document.

The crude was aboard the Gem No. 2 tanker, which was struck by an unidentified projectile last month.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have sought to maintain crude exports despite threats and attacks on shipping around the Strait of Hormuz by Iran.

UAE authorities stopped the leak in late October while continuing cleanup operations along its coast.

The UAE's energy ministry offered the Saudi Arab Light crude for loading via a ship-to-ship transfer between November 10 and 20, according to a tender document reviewed by Reuters.

The tender closed on Monday.

Some 1.7 million barrels were offered, later revised to 1.87 million, another document showed.The terms for the Saudi cargo were similar to those offered by the UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Co, one of the people said.

It is rare for the UAE to market Saudi crude although another source said Saudi Aramco has authorised the UAE to sell the oil on its behalf.

Saudi Aramco and the UAE did not respond to Reuters' requests for comments.

Since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran, attacks on commercial vessels in the Gulf have raised security risks and costs for oil exporters and others as well as heightened fears over the conflict's environmental fallout.

Both countries have offered incentives, including freight discounts, to attract buyers, according to trade sources.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma, Dmitry Zhdannikov, Siyi Liu; editing by Andrew Heavens, Louise Heavens, Florence Tan and Jason Neely)