GENEVA: Nigerian light, sweet grades fell to a nine-month low on Tuesday as traders struggled to sell remaining cargoes for April and May just days before the release of the June programme.
The benchmark Qua Iboe grade was assessed between dated plus $1.90-$2.10 a barrel, the lowest level since last July, due to muted buying interest from US and European buyers.
Bonny Light, the other key Nigerian grade, was assessed below dated plus $2 a barrel after three additional cargoes were added to the May programme.
"We've seen some distressed cargoes for Nigeria and I wouldn't be surprised if Qua Iboe trades below $2 a barrel soon," said a West African crude oil trader.
Traders said that the outlook for Angolan grades was slightly more bullish given an expected fall in exports for June to around 1.63 million barrels per day.
NIGERIA
Qua Iboe: Traders said that prompt cargoes for this grade may already be below dated plus $2 a barrel. It was unclear if Vitol had sold its cargo for 23-24 April.
Brass River: Mercuria offered a 950,000 barrel cargo of Brass River at dated plus $2 a barrel on Tuesday. No deal was reported publicly.
Agbami: BP was seen offering a cargo for 11-12 May loading at dated plus 5 cents.
ANGOLA
Oil traders said there will be no cargoes of Gimboa and Palanca grades for June. This left provisional exports at 1.63 million barrels per day.
Offers have not yet emerged for the June programme.
Oil major Total will cut oil supplies at the giant offshore Girassol oil platform in Angola for planned works in June, trade sources said on Tuesday.
The Girassol grade is due to load three cargoes in June compared with seven in May, a provisional programme showed.
TENDERS
Vitol won an import tender issued by India's state-run Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd and will supply a 600,000 barrel tanker of Nigeria's Qua Iboe crude oil.
India's state-run Bharat Petroleum Corp issued a tender to buy sweet crude for lifting in the first half of June, a tender document showed on Tuesday. Part I of the tender closes on Friday and part II on Monday. It will be awarded on April 17. In a previous tender for May, BPCL bought Akpo from Glencore.