This important milestone was the loading of 600,000 barrels of Seria Light Export Blend (SLEB) on board the Indian tanker bound for Chennai on the southeastern coast of the Indian sub-continent, which marks the first cargo of a new sale agreement between Brunei and India. It has also secured a new destination for the country's oil resource and a new chapter in the trade annals between Brunei Darussalam and India. The SLEB is one of several blends of crude oil that are exported from Brunei Darussalam and is a well-known blend in the international oil market because of its long history - ever since the discovery of the Seria oilfiled in 1929 - and its light and low sulphur properties that does not require heavy refining. The 'Maharshi Parashuram' arrived at the offshore oil loading point known as a Single Buoy Mooring (SBM) some ten kilometres offshore Seria on Saturday morning and spent more than 30 hours to receive its load of SLEB. The crude oil is fed through export pipeline from the storage tanks of the Seria Crude Oil Terminal onshore. Every two days on average, a crude oil tanker arrives at the SBM to load one or two cargoes of Brunei's crude oils. With the assistance of marine pilots from BSP's Marine Department, the arriving tanker is guided safely to berth at the SBM ready to receive SLEB or Champion Export, a heavier alternative of the Brunei crude export grades. Less often the cargo can be Manis, Bebatik, Brunei Light or Brunei Condensate, which form the rest of BSP's crude export grades. The sale agreement preceding the oil trade milestone was signed on July 17, 2003 between BSP and the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) for the supply of 10,000 barrels per day of SLEB for the period from July 1, to December 31, 2003. Representing BSP was Awg Shahbudin Haji Musa, BSP's Head of Oil Trading Department whilst G P Aggarwal, IOC's General Manager for International Trade signed on behalf of IOC. Under the sale contract, BSP will supply IOC with 1.8 million barrels of SLEB in 3 cargo lots of 600,000 barrels during the second half of 2003. The agreement was made following discussions between both parties that started in April. A smooth performance in the inaugural six-month period of the contract will pave the way for continued supply of SLEB into the Indian market in 2004 and beyond. IOC is an Indian government-owned company which owns seven out of a total number of 18 refineries in India, and at 53% has the largest share of the Indian market in term of product sales in 2002. SLEB shipments under the contract will be delivered for processing specifically by the IOC refinery located in Chennai. The new oil supply from Brunei Darussalam will help expand its crude oil import sources and enhance its supply security. P.I.N./Brunei-online.com