Qua Iboe steady at dated Brent plus $2.20-$2.60
* Over 20 Nigerian November cargoes available
* Nine Angolan cargoes in November said unsold
* Traders await results of Asian buying tenders
LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - West African crude oil
differentials steadied on Thursday as an overhang of cargoes
loading in November was balanced by Asian spot demand and
several major Asian buying tenders.
Chinese demand has been slower than normal so far this month
but appeared on Thursday to be picking up as end-consumers
restock before the end of the year.
U.S. and European demand for Nigerian light, sweet grades
continued to be slow but two Indian buying tenders and an
Indonesian tender could absorb some more barrels, traders said.
NIGERIA
* More than 20 of the 72 Nigerian crude oil cargoes loading
in November were reported unsold, including most major grades.
* Qua Iboe: Offers were reported at dated Brent plus $2.60
to $2.70, but buyers were seen closer to dated plus $2.20 to
plus $2.30.
* Bonny: assessed at a discount of at least 50-60 cents per
barrel below Qua Iboe due unreliability of loading dates and
variable quality, traders said.
* Forcados: assessed between dated Brent plus $3.40 and plus
$3.80, traders said, with half a dozen of the November stems now
reported placed.
ANGOLA
* Nine Angolan cargoes due to load in November were still
unsold, including two Girassol, two Dalia, and a cargo each of
Kissanje, Hungo, Saxi and Pazflor.
* Girassol: offered at around dated Brent plus 50 cents with
potential buyers around dated Brent flat at best.
* Kissanje: Repsol was reported to be reoffering a cargo of
Kissanje loading Nov. 11-12 at around dated Brent plus 30 cents
but potential buyers assessed the grade below dated flat.
* Hungo: dated minus $2.00 to minus $2.30 for end-November.
* Pazflor: said offered at dated minus $1.00 but no bids
near that level. The last reported deal was around dated minus
$1.20.
TENDERS
* India's Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) on Wednesday
closed a tender to buy a range of crudes loading Nov. 21-30.
Traders said the tender had attracted regional crudes because of
the narrow loading dates and was unlikely to attract West
African. A result was expected later on Thursday.
* India's biggest state-owned refiner, Indian Oil Corp, also
has a tender to buy light, sweet crude oil running, the first
for December loading, and could take up to four cargoes of
Nigerian grades, possibly Qua Iboe. The tender closes on
Thursday and a result is expected on Friday.
* Petral, the marketing arm of Indonesian state oil company
Pertamina, closed a tender to buy light, sweet crude for
delivery in December on Wednesday. A result was expected later
on Thursday, traders said.
DATABASE
For a database of oil supply and demand fundamentals
upstream and downstream, Reuters subscribers can click on:
here
(Reporting by Christopher Johnson; Editing by Anthony Barker)
