LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) - Differentials for Nigerian
crudes were robust on Wednesday as outages continued to affect
North Sea fields, while sellers of Angolan had yet to clear an
overhang from July, the first this year.
ANGOLA
* About 6-7 cargoes remain for July loading, while the
preliminary programme for August added another 45 cargoes.
* A modest recovery in Asian fuel oil and jet fuel cracks
offered some optimism for buying from Angola's top customer,
China, though backwardation still weighed heavily.
* China's Unipec did not manage to sell its assigned cargo
of new grade Mostarda, which had been heavily discounted, on the
Platts window and will instead ship it home.
* Total was also heard to have failed to sell its cargo of
Mostarda, whose allotment into relatively small Suezmax size
discouraged trading to Asia.
NIGERIA
* Around 25 cargoes of Nigerian crude remained for July.
* Nigerian crude arrivals for June were on track to be the
highest in several months due in part to outages in some North
Sea fields.
* Cargoes of Qua Iboe were being offered for between
$2.40-$2.80 above dated Brent.
* Grades yielding middle distillates stand to benefit from
the maintenance of the Ekofisk field, and bulk deliveries to
Northwest Europe have picked up for July loading.
* Demand for bunker fuel ahead of new shipping regulations
in 2020 may be convincing refiners to step up Nigerian imports
despite relatively modest refining margins.
RELATED NEWS
* U.S. oil stockpiles fell across the board last week, with
crude inventories dropping more than expected and refined
products posting surprise drawdowns due to a rise in refining
and crude exports, and drop in crude production, the EIA said.
* Global oil consumption rose last year at the slowest rate
since 2014, as higher prices and broad deceleration in
manufacturing activity and freight movements took their toll on
fuel use and petrochemicals.