OpeOluwani Akintayo, with agency reports
28 August 2018, Sweetcrude, Lagos — Nigeria will ship at least nine cargoes of crude oil to Asia in August, shipping data from Reuters have shown.
This is coming as shipments of West African crude to Asia are set to reach a record high in August, driven by a surge in demand from Indian refiners, who will take more oil from the region than at any time since mid-2015.
According to the Reuters data, of the 15 cargoes that will go to India, at least 9 will hold Nigerian grades, including Qua Iboe, Agbami and Usan.
A total of 890,000 barrels a day of West African crude will sail to India, compared with 600,000 bpd in July and almost double last August’s 460,000 bpd.
Total loadings for Asia will rise to 2.586 million bpd this month from 2.44 million bpd in July and 2.176 million bpd last August.
Indian state refiner IOC took nearly half the total for India, while the privately held Reliance Industries took three cargoes, and HPCL and BPCL took one each.
China’s daily intake dropped to its lowest since May this year at 1.419 million bpd from 1.571 million bpd in July, reflecting a modest slowdown in refinery intake and less favourable shipping economics.
Some 60 percent of crude that will head to China is Angolan.
India has seen the value of a barrel of oil rise by nearly 56 percent in the last year and China a rise of 47 percent in local terms, compared with the 41 percent rise in the dollar value of Brent to around $74 a barrel.
