LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) - Nigerian oil continued to face an
uphill battle drawing attention from European buyers amid
sliding prices for competing grades, while extended import
quotas for Chinese independent refiners could buoy Angolan
crude.
NIGERIA
* Physical crude differentials were slipping in many regions
due to consistently poor refining margins and Nigerian lighter
grades faced pressure from cheap U.S. and Mediterranean oil.
* Offers for lighter Nigerian crude have slipped after
European buyers showed almost no interest in August-exporting
cargoes.
* The lifting of force majeure on exports of Libyan crude
will likely also drag down prices, traders said.
* Steady demand from Indian refiners and Turkey's Tupras
provided some support to prices.
ANGOLA
* China has issued more non-state crude oil import quotas to
refiners, for a total of 195.93 million barrels in its third
batch for 2020, sources said. * China's Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical Co (ZPC) also became
the first independent Chinese refiner to receive a fuel export
licence, signalling greater future crude demand.
* Still, Chinese buying of West African oil is relatively
slow this trading cycle with the possibility that state refiners
could cut runs due to little demand in late August.
* Dalia crude was last offered for around dated Brent plus
$2 while Girassol has sold out its small handful of cargoes for
August with sale prices at about $3 above dated Brent.
RELATED NEWS
* The Kriti Bastion oil tanker is making its way to Libya's
recently re-opened Es Sider oil port, two shipping sources said
and ship tracking data showed on Thursday. * India's fuel demand fell 7.9% in June compared with the
same month last year.