…September Angolan programme holds exports steady
London — Angola’s preliminary export programme for September emerged on Tuesday, indicating the number of cargoes would match those originally planned for last month at 45.
Reuters also reports that Nigeria’s July-loading cargoes were heard to have likely cleared, while a normal overhang of around two dozen cargoes loading in August was expected as preliminary programmes for September are expected in the coming days.
A cargo from Angola’s offshore Saturno stream was expected to be among the September exports after it was delayed then deferred past August due to an outage.
Industry sources attributed the shutdown to maintenance and said it went back online over the weekend.
Only a small handful of the Angolan August loading cargoes remained as Asian margins and freight rates improved while Chinese refiners sought to meet quotas, according to Reuters.
Although it was an improvement on the July loading period in which Chinese buying was significantly down, it marks only the second overhang for Angolan oil in 2019.
As for Nigeria, its July-loading cargoes were heard to have likely cleared, while a normal overhang of around two dozen cargoes loading in August was expected as preliminary programmes for September are expected in the coming days.
Traders and Refinitiv Eikon ship tracking data indicate that there has been no large scale diversion of West African crude cargoes away from the Philadelphia PES refinery, a consistent buyer of West Africa, WAF, grades.
Elsewhere, Indonesia’s Pertamina issued a tender for one cargo per month for October-December delivery set to close on Monday.
Astron Energy in South Africa has issued a tender for a West African grade closing today, though no details emerged.
In a related development, Reuters also reported that ten Turkish sailors were taken hostage by armed pirates who attacked a Turkish-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Nigeria, the vessel’s owner said on Tuesday, adding that another eight sailors were left safely aboard.