LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - The last of Angola's 44 cargoes
scheduled for export in September had just about cleared by
Friday, traders said, as the relatively heavy crude benefited
from strong European and Asian distillate margins.
ANGOLA
* Angolan crude sold the most quickly and at the highest
differentials in about three months as Chinese refiners
completed summer maintenance and margins for jet fuel in Asia
picked up.
* Other relatively heavy West African grades, such as
Congolese Djeno and Chadian Doba, were also heard to have
cleared.
* Traders said higher price offerings for the last several
cargoes encountered resistance from buyers, prompting markdowns.
* A cargo of Girassol offered at a premium of $3 to dated
Brent is likely to have sold at a premium of less than $2.70
while a cargo of Dalia was offered at a $2.70 premium that was
discounted to less than $2.50.
* Preliminary programmes for October-loading cargoes are
expected to emerge late next week.
NIGERIA
* Nigerian oil registered its slowest sales of the year in
August as U.S. exports of competing light, sweet grades flooded
traditional markets in Europe and Asia. * Almost all cargoes for August had cleared by Friday,
leaving at least a couple of dozen cargoes for September.
* The last prompt-loading cargoes for Qua Iboe and Bonny
Light have sold in recent days for a premium of a little less
than $2 to dated Brent, an improvement from offers of a little
over $1.50 the previous week.
RELATED NEWS
* Mounting signs of an economic slowdown and ratcheting up
of the U.S.-China trade war have caused global oil demand to
grow at its slowest pace since the financial crisis of 2008, the
International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday. * Libya is gradually restarting production at the El Sharara
oilfield, the country's largest, two field engineers and an oil
industry source said on Thursday, after unknown gunmen had
blocked a pipeline.