GENEVA, May 24 (Reuters) – Angolan and Nigerian differentials were under pressure on Friday as some Asian refiners snubbed west African grades in favour of light, sweet crude from other regions.
Earlier this week, India’s Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) opted to purchase Omani and Yemeni crude oil instead while Petral was also heard to have sourced July crude from outside the region.
Traders said only a few Nigerian cargoes from June have yet to clear and spot trade was seen shifting to July on Friday.
Offers for the benchmark Qua Iboe grade were reported at around dated plus $3 a barrel but most market participants assessed the grade at around 50 cents below that level and about 20 cents below levels earlier this week.
West Africa is seen as increasingly reliant on European demand for its oil, given that a more than $1 increase in the Brent/Dubai spread since the start of May has made exports to Asia less attractive.
“This leaves Europe as the core destination for Nigerian barrels, but the region already has plenty of Caspian and North Sea barrels on offer, much of which is available at discounts to Dated Brent,” said JBC Energy analysts.
NIGERIA
* Qua Iboe: Seen at around dated Brent plus $2.50 a barrel.
* Brass River: Nigeria will load an additional two tankers of Brass River oil in July, a revised shipping list showed on Friday, lifting total exports to around 1.79 million bpd.
* One of the two added cargoes – a 350,000 barrel tanker allocated to Eni – was deferred from June. The second was a 180,000 barrel Brass cargo, trading sources said.
* Bonny: A force majeure on exports declared in mid-April remains in place, Shell confirmed on Thursday.
ASIAN TENDERS
* Taiwan’s CPC was heard to have bought two cargoes of Angolan crude oil as part of its July tender. The grades were heard to be Cabinda and Nemba, although the sale prices were not immediately available.
DATABASE
For a database of oil supply and demand fundamentals upstream and downstream, Reuters subscribers can click on:
http://bond.views.session.rservices.com/ce (Reporting by Emma Farge; editing by James Jukwey)
(c) 2013 Thomson Reuters, Click For Restrictions
Featured image (c) Shutterstock/Tanawat Pontchour
Join the gCaptain Club for curated content, insider opinions, and vibrant community discussions.
Join the 108,738 members that receive our newsletter.
Have a news tip? Let us know.
The frequency of cable incidents in the Baltic Sea has been "exceptional" in recent years, but state actors have more effective ways of performing underwater sabotage than by dragging anchors, Finland's intelligence service chief said.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to decide on Monday what levels of tariffs he will impose early on Tuesday on Canada and Mexico amid last-minute negotiations over border security and efforts to halt the inflow of fentanyl opioids.
CMA CGM Group posted 2024 results broadly similar to those of AP Møller Maersk (APMM), but warned of a difficult year to come. As usual, however, the French shipping group, which has now integrated Bolloré Logistics into its Ceva subsidiary, did not provide full transparency into its numbers.
Maritime and offshore news trusted by our 108,738 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
Sign Up
Join The Club
