LONDON, March 25 (Reuters) - A large overhang of
April-loading west African crude was depleting slowly on
Wednesday owing to some Chinese spot purchases but refiners
continued to eschew light grades with high gasoline and jet fuel
yields.
* Nigerian firms were offering cargoes at official selling
price levels while majors and large traders showed higher
prices.
*"The only place you can put this stuff is South Africa's
Saldanha Bay but that must be near full," one trader said.
* Some cargoes were sold this week to a major Chinese
refiner but the volume was limited owing to the constantly
changing price environment.
* Sales to India could encounter problems beyond run cuts as
some ports declare force majeure. * From Canada and the Caribbean to the Baltic and Singapore,
oil tanks around the world are filling fast, despite a 50%-100%
jump in lease costs, as oil companies and traders scramble to
park unwanted crude and refined products. * Storage at Cushing in the United States will reach maximum
capacity as early as May and Caribbean storage for oil is also
nearing capacity, storage brokers said.
* Angola is exporting 45 cargoes in May, up from 39 planned
in April. Nigeria's key grades will also be exporting more in
May than in the previous month.
* 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.
* Japanese trading company Marubeni Corp 8002.T on
Wednesday predicted a record net loss of 190 billion yen ($1.7
billion) for the year ending March due to the economic impact of
the coronavirus outbreak.
* The Nigerian Army is preparing to forcibly transfer the
sick to hospital and enforce curbs on movement to try to shield
the country from coronavirus, and is leasing equipment for
"possible mass burial", according to an army memo seen by
Reuters.