LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - Operator Royal Dutch Shell lifted
the force majeure in place on exports of major Nigerian grade
Bonny Light, as tight global oil supply encourages sellers of
Nigerian crude to offer many varieties at all-time high prices.
NIGERIA
* Feeding the Bonny Light terminal, the Nembe Creek Trunk
Line has been struck by three outages this year, worrying
traders, although loading delays have only been around five
days.
* Around 20 Nigerian cargoes still remain from the June
programme, while Nigeria's new programmes are due next week.
* Demand is seen to be strong in Western markets given
relatively high European gasoline cracks and the transition to a
more expensive gasoline blend for the U.S. summer driving
season.
* U.S.-based Marathon Petroleum is set to take a VLCC of a
West African grade to the U.S. Gulf coast, loading in June, its
third such shipment in three months.
* Qua Iboe was heard to be offered at dated Brent plus
$2.70, Forcados at dated Brent plus $3.40 and Escravos at dated
Brent plus $3.30 a barrel.
* The IEA cited economic deceleration in Nigeria, along with
Brazil and China, as contributing to reduced global oil demand.
* The Paris-based organisation also pointed to reduced
demand by India and Indonesia -- key buyers of Nigerian oil.
ANGOLA
* Angola's July loading programme was expected to emerge
before the end of the week, while around 3 Angolan cargoes
remain for June loading.
* Asian demand may be weighed down by a sharp widening of
the Brent-Dubai spread DUB-EFS-1M over the past week and steep
backwardation. * Most traders believe China has few alternatives for
Angola's heavier oil grades, which are scarce in the global
market because of U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.
TENDERS
* Turkey's Tupras issued a buy tender for a cargo of west
African crude for delivery between June 25 and July 10. It was
set to close on Wednesday.
* India's IOC has two buy tenders for crude loading July
7-16 and June 22 to July 1, closing on Thursday.
RELATED NEWS
* The world will require very little extra oil from OPEC
this year as booming U.S. output will offset falling exports
from Iran and Venezuela, the International Energy Agency said on
Wednesday. * China's crude oil throughput rose in April to match record
daily levels, government data showed on Wednesday, buoyed by
growing production at private refiners, including a mammoth new
facility in the country's northeast.