LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Improved margins and freight rates
boosted price offers for both heavy and sweet West African crude
oil on Friday.
NIGERIA
* Asian naphtha margins quadrupled in October while spot
premiums have hit the highest since 2013 at the same time
gasoline margins gained 18.3%.
* Saudi Arabia may raise prices of light crude grades it
sells to Asia in December amid higher Middle East benchmarks,
while a slump in fuel oil margins may lead to a deep price cut
for its heavy grade. * Lighter Nigerian crude cargoes for November and December
were heard to have crept up around 20 cents a barrel, with Bonny
Light and Qua Iboe over a premium of $2 compared to dated Brent.
* European gasoline cracks continued to be relatively strong
amid low European and U.S. stocks.
ANGOLA
* Around 20 Angolan cargoes were said to be still available
for export in December, in more robust trading than November.
* Physical trade liquidity in 0.5% very low-sulphur fuel oil
(VLSFO) cargoes jumped to a record in the Singapore trading
window with 120,000 tonnes of the fuel traded on Friday.
[ASIA-FUEL OIL/]
* Price offers for heavy sweet Dalia crude rose to around
$2.20 a barrel above dated Brent, a steady rise for the grade
sought after for refining into low-sulphur fuel oil.
* China, the world's top oil importer, will keep its
non-state crude oil import quota for 2020 unchanged at 202
million tonnes, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday in a
statement. RELATED NEWS
* U.S. refiners have cut seasonal crude processing sharply
since the start of the second quarter, averting a potential
oversupply of gasoline and distillates, but worsening the build
up of crude stocks. * An estimated 9,120 barrels of oil have spilled from TC
Energy Corp's Keystone crude pipeline in North Dakota, state
authorities said on Thursday.