Angolan state oil company Sonangol was working out its term allocations for May cargoes, traders said on Monday, while ample supply was heard to be weighing on the value of Nigerian crude.
ANGOLA
* The May loading programme emerged on Friday with 54 cargoes, or 1.67 million barrels per day, versus 53 in April.
* One source said Unipec would take four cargoes on a term basis, Sinchem seven, Indian Oil Corp. two and Petrogal one. Another source said term allocations were not fully worked out.
* Sonangol is also showing some spot offers to the market, which include Dalia offered at dated Brent plus 10 cents — a level one potential buyer said was on the high side.
NIGERIA
* Nigerian Qua Iboe was heard to be on offer at about dated Brent plus $1.00, down 10 cents from offers heard on Friday.
* The narrowing contango in the Brent market has reduced the incentive to store barrels, weighing on prompt values. Vitol last week sold a Qua cargo to Petroineos from storage in Saldanha Bay in South Africa, a trader said.
* Up to 20 cargoes from the April programme were still said to be available.
TENDERS
* Shell, which traders said on Friday had probably won IOC’s latest buying tender, is likely to be supplying 2 million barrels of Nigerian crude, a trader said on Monday.
* Another Indian refiner HPCL is running a tender for first-half May-loading cargoes. The tender closes on March 22.
* Taiwan’s CPC is running a buy tender for full-month May-loading crude. The tender closed on Monday.