West Africa Crude-Diffs firm on steady sales
LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - West African crude oil differentials stayed firm on Thursday despite higher supply, with Angolan and Nigerian cargoes for May loading selling steadily.
Around 12-15 Nigerian cargoes for May loading were sold, a trader said.
Nigeria is due to export 1.84 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in May, preliminary loading programmes showed on Monday.
However this excluded the Usan grade, which will likely bring the programme above 2 million bpd, far above April once deferrals due to production disruption have been taken into account.
Angola was said to have 19-20 cargoes still available, around one third of the 59 available for May loading.
Exports of West African crude oil to Asia are set to rise to around 1.81 million barrels per day (bpd) in April from the 1.68 million bpd the previous month, a Reuters survey showed, as European and U.S. demand slipped back.
NIGERIA * Qua Iboe : Offered at dated Brent plus $3.75, after initially being offered at $3.95 a barrel on Tuesday.
* 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 still not yet available. Usan exports are typically around 120,000 barrels per day.
* Agbami: All but one of this grade was already sold, a trader said. Other grades have typically only had one or two cargoes purchased he said.
ANGOLA
* Girassol: Heard sold out for May. Last assessed at around dated Brent plus $1.20-$1.30.
* Dalia and Saturno were said to have the most cargoes still available.
ASIAN TENDERS
* 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 Simon Falush; editing by Keiron Henderson)
((simon.falush@reuters.com)(+44 2075427681)(Reuters Messaging: simon.falush.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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Keywords: MARKETS OIL/WESTAFRICA