Nigeria crude sale steady as Asian bids balance offers

West African crude oil differentials were steady over the weekend as Asian demand for a variety of grades balanced ample supplies of most grades, particularly the lighter end of the sweet market.

India’s largest refiner, Indian Oil Corp according to market report bought four million barrels of Nigerian crude for loading end-March/early April, adding some support to a market that has slipped over the past week due to a range of unsold cargoes.

Around half of the Nigerian crude cargoes due to load in March are still reported to be unplaced more than half-way into the monthly trading cycle. The market for Angolan crudes is much tighter, with almost all the main grades now placed with end-consumers, many of them Chinese-owned.

According to the market report Unipec alone is reported to have booked around 30 cargoes for the month, of which a couple of dozen are likely to be taken to China.

Qua Iboe cargoes of the Nigerian benchmark for March lifting were assessed around dated Brent plus $2.50/$2.70 a barrel, down around 20 cents over the last week but steady from Wednesday/Thursday. Bonny Light another Nigeria crude grade, assessed at a discount of around 30 cents per barrel below Qua Iboe.

Vitol it was learnt offered a Bonny Light cargo for Feb. 20-21 at dated Brent plus $2.30 a barrel in the public trading window on Thursday. Traders said the price of the cargo, which was left unsold according to traders, reflected the relatively prompt lifting window.

Brass River was reported to have offered around dated Brent plus $2.30 but finding no bids at that level.
Only around 10 per cent of the 52 cargoes scheduled to load in March left unsold, traders said. Kuito: Sonangol was reported to have sold its Kuito cargo loading March 15-16 below dated Brent minus $3.00 to an undisclosed buyer.

Girassol one cargo loading mid-March reported to be offered as high as dated Brent plus $2.50, but potential buyers said this was at least $1 per barrel too high. Pazflor has two cargoes reported unsold for March.
Equatorial Guinea Zafiro was assessed steady around dated Brent plus $1.50.

Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has bought four million barrels of Nigerian crude for loading in March-April from Glencore through its latest tender, traders said weekend. IOC on the other hand bought one million barrels each of EA, Qua Iboe, Bonga and Forcados in two VLCCs.