West Africa Crude: Angolan mostly sold, Nigerian surplus remains

crude oil prices

Angolan crude oil cargoes for August loading were mostly sold after Chinese demand picked up, traders said on Monday, while ample supplies were keeping a lid on Nigerian differentials.

NIGERIA

* There are 10-15 cargoes of Nigerian crude, plus at least 40 August-loading shipments, looking for buyers, traders said.

* Buying interest for some grades has perked up partly because of a drop in differentials, some traders said.

* Qua Iboe, the largest export stream, was valued at dated Brent plus 35 cents, the lowest since December 2015.

ANGOLA

* Angolan crude has been selling more quickly after Chinese buying re-emerged.

* A few August-loading cargoes are still for sale – including shipments of CLOV, Dalia, Mondo, Pazflor and Hungo.

* Differentails for some grades have risen due to increased demand. Girassol was valued at dated Brent plus 10 cents, up 5 cents from Friday’s assessment.

TENDERS

* Indian refiner Indian Oil Corp has issued a buying tender for September crude, a trader said. The result is due later this week, most likely on Thursday.

* Another Indian refiner, HPCL, was reported on Friday to be running a term tender to buy as much as 4 million barrels of Nigerian crude every three months through March 2018. No result was heard as yet.