Nigeria’s unsold crude oil cargoes glut market

An overhang of unsold Nigerian cargoes for November loading continued to weigh on the market, keeping price differentials under downward pressure, Reuters has reported.

About 10 November cargoes are still available, say traders, on top of about two-thirds of December’s loading schedule which was set at 62 cargoes.

“The market is not short,” said a trader. “Nothing is doing well.”

Nigeria’s largest crude Qua Iboe was valued at dated Brent plus 40 cents, the lowest assessment since January and close to the multi-year low of dated plus 35 cents reached in December.

Angolan oil has sold more quickly, but 12-15 cargoes out of a total of 58 for December are available and there are signs of differentials weakening.

NIGERIA

* Qua Iboe was offered at dated Brent plus $1.00. Views on its value were heard as low as close to dated Brent parity on Monday compared with dated plus 50 cents on Friday.

ANGOLA

* Pazflor was the slowest selling of the Angolan programmes with four cargoes available. Some grades including Hungo, Nemba and Kissanje are sold out.

* Dalia was offered at dated Brent minus $3.50 and has traded lower than dated minus $4.00, a relatively low level, said a dealer.

TENDERS

* Pertamina awarded a term tender to buy Nigerian crude to BP, a trader said. The Indonesian company also took a Nigerian cargo from Trafigura in a spot trade reported on Friday.

* Uraguay’s Ancap bought a cargo of North Sea Ekofisk crude in its latest tender, a relatively rare choice of grade, a trader said.