Unipec, the trading arm of China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), is moving a huge tanker loaded with crude from Libya's Abu Attifel field to meet demand in Southeast Asia, according to two sources who requested anonymity and shipping data from the London Stock Exchange Group and Kpler.

The two sources said that a large amount of Libyan Abu Attifel crude is rarely sent in a giant tanker to Asia, and that this light Libyan crude is often sold to European refineries because of its proximity to the OPEC member state.

In January, Unipec chartered the giant crude oil tanker Cyan Nova to load crude from Malta to Singapore or China in February for between $8.75 million and $9.75 million, according to data shown by the London Stock Exchange Group and an intermediary shipping services company.

Kepler data revealed that Cyan Nova loaded Abu Attifel crude from the Calypso, Rafa, and Green Azure tankers, and also showed that cargoes were loaded to the three smaller tankers in Libya in February.

One of the sources stated that it was not easy to arrange three shipments, while the other source expected that the “Cyan Nova” crude tanker would take the Cape of Good Hope route and unload its shipments in Asia in May.

Shipping data from the London Stock Exchange Group also showed that the ship is currently heading to Gibraltar to refuel before taking the longer route to Asia.

The second source indicated that Unipec has since sold one million barrels of oil to a refinery in Vietnam for delivery in May, in addition to 400,000 barrels to the Thai Petroleum Refining Company.

It was not clear if the remaining 500,000 barrels had been sold.