Uruguay has received a shipment of Nigerian light sweet Qua Iboe crude oil this week, in what is its first observed import of this grade in at least several years.

Nigeria is the main source of state-owned oil firm Ancap’s crude imports, which comprise mostly light sweet grades.

Last year the Opec-member exported mostly its Escravos grade to Uruguay, while also sending a shipment of Erha.

Vortexa data shows that the Suezmax Pola departed from Qua Iboe terminal in Nigeria at the end of March, after Ancap picked up the grade in a spot purchase tender in February. Pola arrived at the Jose Ignacio terminal in Uruguay on 9 April.

In the first quarter of this year, Uruguay’s crude imports were sourced mostly from Nigeria. It imported from Angola and took an unusual shipment from the US. The country also received a shipment in February from the South Riding Point terminal on Grand Bahama island, where Norway’s Statoil operates a storage and transshipment terminal.

Uruguay’s first quarter imports were up sharply year-on-year. Last February Ancap’s 50,000 b/d La Teja refinery in Montevideo closed for around half a year, as a result of planned maintenance and dispute with labour unions, weighing on imports compared with previous years.