Crude oil: Nigeria has 20 unsold cargoes for September

Crude oil: Nigeria has 20 unsold cargoes for September

Tuesday, August 12, 2014 5:47 am


Close to 20 Nigerian cargoes remained unsold for September loading but the figure of available barrels was likely higher with some non-end users still offering some crude, Reuters has reported.

Some Nigerian Agbami, Forcados, Akpo and Bonga was on offer for September loading, the second trader said,but overall the market was quiet. Agbami and Akpo were offered around dated Brent minus 20 cents on a fob basis while Forcados was shown at dated Brent plus $1.30 fob.

In the window, Unipec offered a cargo of Antan at dated Brent minus $1.50 on a fob basis for Sept. 1-2 but no buyers surfaced. The offer was 30 cents a barrel below a similar offer during Friday’s session.

In contrast, Angolan crude grades were largely sold out on Monday ending several months of overhang after prices dropped low enough to prompt Asian refiners to buy despite a light sweet oil glut in their region. Angola’s October loading programme was expected to emerge by the end of the week or early next week.

Some differentials for Angolan grades recently plummeted to their lowest since 2008. “I think prices have hit a bottom and will probably stagnate around here for a while,” one trader said.

Another trader said about 75 percent of west African cargoes had been cleared in September, a marked improvement from  the heavy overhangs in June and July.

The recent glut of light sweet oil in the Atlantic Basin has also put pressure on Mediterranean grades, already weighed down by reduced refining runs in Europe. Azeri Light, which normally commands at least a $2 a barrel premium to dated Brent, fell to dated Brent plus $1.70 cif Augusta last week, a low since 2010.

.Reuters


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