LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - West African crude continued to
trade slowly on Friday despite a Saudi pledge to cut output
which will reduce supplies and signs that Asian buyers are
tapping oil in storage.
* Supply is set to be tighter after Saudi Arabia's surprise
output cut in a producer meeting this month.
* A record seven North Sea cargoes traded on the Platts
window on Thursday, 4 of them by China's Unipec, likely related
to the reduced imports from the Mideast.
* The trend had yet to make itself felt strongly in the West
African market as barely any of Angola's spot cargoes for
February had sold and price offers slipped.
* Strong Brent crude futures, which hit 11-month highs of
$55 a barrel, as well as a backwardated market structure, partly
explained the lack of interest.
* Sonangol had cut offers for its cargo of Dalia to just
above dated Brent plus $1.50.
* Final export programmes for Nigerian crude were finalised
for some of the main grades, with Qua Iboe still absent due to
maintenance issues.
* South Africa's Sasol issued a buy tender for crude for
March 5-6 delivery, closing on Friday, though details on a
winner were slow to emerge.
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