Sam Ikeotuonye, with agency reports
Lagos — About 25 or more of Nigeria’s June crude oil loading cargoes remained unsold as at the weekend, according to reports.
“Sales did not appear to be picking up swiftly as around 25 or more June loading cargoes were heard to remain, despite higher European gas cracks and an uptick in U.S. imports ahead of peak driving season,” a Reuters report said.
A force majeure by Total affecting the Amenam stream was reported to be causing major loading delays of around 25 days.
This is in addition to another outage since Monday last week, caused by a leak on the Nembe Creek Pipeline loading the major Bonny Light grade, which caused much less severe delays.
As for Angola, its crude set to load in June was down to its last few cargoes by Friday, traders said, but it struggled to find buyers as China had already made its purchases earlier in the month and European refiners awaited lower prices.
The international oil market was reported to be keenly watching the tightening of U.S. sanctions on Iran and was strategising on how to replace those barrels, with West African oil standing by to help fill the gap.
Amid the tight market, energy majors were keeping and refining some of their own equity rather than marketing it, the report said.
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