Nigeria, Angola Crude Differentials Steady – Report

• Nigeria, Angola Crude Differentials Steady – Report

Trade in Nigerian and Angolan crude cargoes got off to a slow start on Monday, leaving differentials broadly unchanged, although traders said an easing in buying from Asia looked set to push West African barrels into the already oversupplied European market, Reuters reported on Monday.

It also stated that rising output from Atlantic Basin rivals such as Libya, coupled with a less favourable arbitrage window, both east and west, had dampened July’s brisk pace of trade.

An influx of Urals and Mediterreanean cargoes into northwest Europe has worsened the contango in the dated Brent market and put pressure on the likes of Forties and Ekofisk.

A handful of cargoes were left from the September Angolan programme, thanks to China, but the Nigerian market was still struggling to clear an overhang from August, traders said.

It was also reported that around 10 cargoes of Angolan were still available from the September programme, adding that the September cargoes of Nigerian crude were selling slowly with some August still available.

The Late-August barrels of Nigerian Qua Iboe were said to have changed hands at a premium of around $1.60 a barrel to dated Brent late last week, but traders said on Monday no new offers emerged. The BP was still being offered as low as $1.45, they said.