LONDON, March 26 (Reuters) - Traders said what little west
African crude traded was heading to China as European and U.S.
refiners increasingly reel from deepening lockdowns to contain
the spread of COVID-19 virus.
* Nigerian crude still failed to elicit interest as Chinese
refiners prefer Angolan while state-owned Unipec has been buying
up medium sour Russian Urals as European demand dives.
* Light and medium sweet grades are the least desirable ones
for the time being owing to their high yield of naphtha,
gasoline and jet fuel that cannot be stored for too long.
* European demand is not there to pick up the slack as the
prices on closer alternate sweet grades like Algerian Saharan
Blend and Azeri Light keep crashing. * Sonangol was still offering several spot cargoes: Cabinda
at dated Brent plus 50 cents, CLOV at dated Brent plus $1.20,
two cargoes of Dalia at dated Brent minus 40 cents and Girassol
at dated Brent plus $1.50.
* About half of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa still
have a "narrowing" opportunity to curb the spread of coronavirus
in the local population, the regional head of the World Health
Organisation said on Thursday. * Global oil demand could drop as much as 20 million barrels
per day or 20% of total demand as 3 billion people are currently
in a lockdown because of the coronavirus outbreak, the head of
the International Energy Agency said.