The biggest jump in three years in the nation's imports of oil for power generation is driving a rally in demand for Asian sweet crude.
Minas, Indonesia's largest crude grade, traded Thursday at $6.12 a barrel more than Brent, the European benchmark grade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with $1.89 on June 29 and an average $2.57 in the past 12 months.
Domestic power generators are burning more low-sulfur, or sweet, crude such as Minas and Vietnam's Su Tu Den and Bach Ho to make up for a slump in nuclear output following the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear crisis.