LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The number of unsold Nigerian crude oil cargoes on the January loading schedule remained in the double figures during the early stages of this week, as Sonangol continues to offload its February supplies.
* Traders last viewed around 10-15 cargoes still unsold from Nigeria's January loading schedule, even as the trade cycle progresses towards February loading cargoes.
* Nigeria's February loading programme is set to be shorter than January's for the four major grades - Qua Iboe, Forcados, Bonga and Bonny Light. Exports of those four grades will average 815,000 barrels per day (bpd) in February, down from 841,000 bpd in January.
* The overhang is weighing on differentials. Late-January and early-February supplies of Qua Iboe were last heard on offer at dated Brent plus $2.15, a trader said, down from levels heard for January cargoes before Christmas.
* Meanwhile in Angola, state-owned Sonangol was heard to have sold a February Cabinda cargo to Indonesia's Pertamina as part of a tender process from the buying firm, a trade source said.
* It was unclear if Angola's January programme had cleared, after a trader said two to three cargoes were still available at the end of last week.
* Around 640,000 bpd of crude has been exported from Angola so far in January, data from Kpler show, with cargoes headed for India and China so far. Exports were 978,000 bpd across the full month of December, the data show.
(Reporting by Robert Harvey Editing by Mark Potter)
((Robert.Harvey@thomsonreuters.com; +447552256587;))
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