LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - A rapid improvement to some price
offers of Nigerian and Angolan crude oil in recent days left
traders wondering whether sellers were too optimistic about a
recovery of physical oil prices.
* Offers of light sweet Nigerian crude oil by Chevron and
Exxon have jumped, including a cargo of Qua Iboe offered at
above dated Brent zero, up about $6 from around two weeks ago.
* Noting that comparable offers were scarce, traders
believed some sellers were capitalizing on a slight improvement
to Brent crude prices and optimism for easing economic lockdowns
to attempt more ambitious prices.
* Announcements of fresh output cuts by Saudi Arabia and
Kuwait were seen as a boon to West African crude. * But with storage options scarce in key markets, reports of
new infections in Germany and South Korea along with no
indication of actual sales near the offered Nigerian prices,
traders saw differentials still well below dated Brent zero.
* "Aside from the May cargo availability, there are quite a
few new June cargoes that will have to be placed somewhere," one
trader said.
* Freight rates were largely static, but a decrease for
routes from West Africa to Europe and China last week to levels
not seen since early March has provided relief to sellers.
* Prospects for Angolan crude were brighter, with state oil
company Sonangol largely making offers to independent Chinese
refiners which received larger import quotas for early 2020.
* New Chinese export quotas of mostly gasoline, diesel and
aviation fuel went exclusively to state refiners. NEWS
* Indian refiners are scaling up crude processing as local
fuel demand begins to improve with a gradual easing of the
lockdown aimed at stemming the spread of coronavirus, company
officials said. * Thailand's largest energy company PTT Pcl PTT.BK said
on Monday it planned to cut investment by up to 15% after
booking quarterly losses due to a sharp drop in oil prices and
weak demand for petrochemicals amid the coronavirus outbreak.