MRPL issues rare tender to import high sulphur oil - document

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd has issued a rare tender to import high sulphur crude for loading during March 1-10, a document showed on Thursday.

India has asked its refiners to slash oil buys from Iran in the next two months to keep imports in line with the previous fiscal year's levels, sources with knowledge of the matter said, days ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to New Delhi.

The refiner was seeking one million barrels of cargo for deliveries at India's west coast, the document showed.

MRPL rarely tenders for high sulphur crude since it typically imports Iranian barrels, according to the terms of an annual term contract with the OPEC member.

Earlier in the day MRPL, which operates a 300,000 bpd refinery in southern India, issued another tender seeking 1 million barrels of low sulphur crude for loading during March 1-15, a separate document showed.

Both tenders will close on Jan. 28, with offers to remain valid until Jan.30.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; editing by Susan Thomas)