West Africa Crude-Nigerian offers soar to 18-mth high

GENEVA, March 26 (Reuters) - Nigerian May cargoes were offered at the highest levels in 18 months at near dated plus $4 a barrel after an Indian buying spree helped raise seller hopes.

India's Bharat Petroleum Corp awarded 3 million barrels of west African crude on Tuesday for its latest tender, including Nemba, Agbami and Bonga grades, traders said.

Nigeria and Angola are due to export more crude to India in April where refineries are cutting further purchases from Iran due to concerns about shipping insurance, traders have said.

"There's not many reasons for high prices now that the force majeure has been lifted. India has been buying more as it can't take oil from Iran," said one trade source.

Traders said that around half of the 59 cargoes due to load from Angola in May had been sold.

"Chinese buying is strong of course. There's also good demand from India and the Mediterranean," a second trader said.

NIGERIA * Qua Iboe

: Heard offered at dated plus $3.95 a barrel on Tuesday, although one trader called this "optimistic". It is not yet known to have traded for May.

* Traders assessed the grade at about dated plus $3.60 a barrel which was still up around 30 cents from April levels.

* Usan: The May loading programme for Nigeria was not yet available on Tuesday. Without Usan, Nigeria is due to ship 1.84 million bpd of crude oil in May.

* Usan exports are typically around 120,000 barrels per day.

ANGOLA

* Girassol: Heard sold out for May. Last assessed at around dated Brent plus $1.20-$1.30..

ASIAN TENDERS

* BPCL: India's Bharat Petroleum Corp awarded 3 million barrels of west African crude on Tuesday for its latest tender, including Nemba, Agbami and Bonga grades.

* Part one of an HPCL was due to be decided on Tuesday with part two later in the week, a trader said.

DATABASE

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(Reporting by Emma Farge; editing by Keiron Henderson)

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Keywords: MARKETS OIL/WESTAFRICA