It bought the cargo at $1.20 below Dubai quotes on a cost and freight basis.

MRPL is likely to blend the one million barrels Basra Heavy crude, which will be delivered in September, with lighter grades so it can be processed at its refinery, one of the sources said.

MRPL and Shell declined to comment on the deal.

(Reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore and Promit Mukherjee in Mumbai; editing by Manolo Serapio Jr. and Jason Neely)