* Anchorage area used as a ship-to-ship transfer point
* Iran struggling to sell crude in face of sanctions
* Indonesia says no barter agreement with Iran on oil
(Adds Indonesian minister, Pertamina comments)
SINGAPORE, Feb 23 (Reuters) - An Iranian supertanker
loaded with crude has made a rare journey to an anchorage point
off the coast of an Indonesian island used for offshore sales
and storage of oil.
The Delvar, part of the National Iranian Tanker Co.'s (NITC)
fleet, arrived at Karimun Island in the Singapore Strait on
Thursday, according to Reuters Freight Fundamentals Database.
The vessel remains anchored with its draft indicating an almost
full load, the data showed. A super tanker, or Very Large Crude
Carrier (VLCC), can carry up to two million barrels of oil.
Tehran has been struggling to sell its crude in the face of
tightening U.S. sanctions and an EU embargo that kicks in on
July 1. Major Asian buyers are planning to cut back imports in
order to win a waiver from U.S. sanctions, sapping a key revenue
lifeline for Iran.
Karimun is a key offshore storage point near Asia's biggest
oil trading hub Singapore and is often used for ship-to-ship
transfers (STS), but NITC vessels have not been known to call
there.
"It's very interesting. I've never seen NITC vessels coming
to Karimun," said a Singapore-based shipbroker.
Karimun has been frequently used as a STS location for more
than seven years, and some tankers, particularly VLCCs, have
anchored there for stints of up to three months.
"If they have sold the oil, it's most likely to a refiner.
Traders won't go near Iranian crude. They also could be storing
it there," said a Singapore-based crude oil trader.
Western financial sanctions have crimped Iran's purchases of
grain, cooking oil and tea. Tehran is turning to barter -
offering gold bullion in overseas vaults or tankerloads of oil -
as new financial sanctions have hurt its ability to import basic
staples for its 74 million people.
Indonesian Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said there was
currently no agreement on barter trade with Iran.
"So far we haven't got any proposal on barter trade from the
Iranian government," Wirjawan told Reuters on Thursday.
Separately, Indonesian state oil firm Pertamina said the
Iranian tanker was not for them, according to the spokesman.
Refiners in the region who are known to buy Iranian crude
include Malaysian state-owned Petronas and Royal Dutch Shell's
500,000 barrels-per-day refinery in Singapore, traders said.
(Additional reporting by Lee Yen Nee, Yayat Supriatna and Reza
Thaher; Editing by Sugita Katyal, Manash Goswami)
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