LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) - Differentials for Nigerian crude
oil continued to slide as lacklustre refining margins and a
plethora of competing grades prompted sellers to lower offers in
the absence of demand.
NIGERIA
* Up to 20 cargoes remain for August loading amid a glut of
light sweet crude from the United States and the North Sea --
where differentials are also falling.
* The backlog is putting pressure on prices for September
loading, especially for main grades Bonny Light, Qua Iboe and
Forcados, which are all being offered at among the lowest rates
in 2019.
* Mercuria is attempting to sell a cargo of August loading
Forcados after having sold a cargo of mid-month loading Jones
Creek on Monday.
* Differentials for August loading Bonny Light and Qua Iboe
crude were at well below a $2.00 premium to dated Brent.
ANGOLA
* Less than 15 crude cargoes remain for September-loading.
* Girassol, Cabinda and Dalia were being offered at the
highest levels of the year while Kissanje and Hungo have also
been marked up in response to brisk demand.
* Demand for cargoes arriving in East Asia for September and
October are up on increased Chinese oil product export quotas.
TENDERS
* Turkey's Tupras bought a cargo of Bonny Light from Shell
for between a premium of $1.50 - $1.80 to dated Brent, among the
lowest rates for the major Nigerian grade this year.
* Thailand's PTT bought a cargo of Nigerian Agbami crude on
behalf of Thai refiner IRPC via a tender awarded last week,
likely a late July loading cargo from Chevron.
* Indonesia's Pertamina has issued a tender for 1.8 million
barrels for delivery to Teluk Semangka between October 1-5 and
for two 950,000 barrel cargoes for delivery to Balikpapan
between October 8-15 and October 22-29, set to close on Friday.
RELATED NEWS
* OPEC oil output hit an eight-year low in July as a further
voluntary cut by top exporter Saudi Arabia deepened losses
caused by U.S. sanctions on Iran and outages elsewhere in the
group, a Reuters survey found. * Libya's Sharara oilfield, the country's largest, was
forced to shut down after a valve on the pipeline linking it to
the Zawiya oil terminal was closed late Tuesday evening,
state-owned National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Wednesday.
* U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell for the seventh straight
week, falling to their lowest levels since November even as
production rebounded and net imports increased, the Energy
Information Administration said on Wednesday.