West Africa’s crude oil loadings for Asia are set to fall to a five-month low in April, dragged down by a backlog of cargoes outside China and strong Brent
prices that hindered new bookings, a Reuters survey of shipping fixtures and traders showed on Friday. Loadings for China, the key consumer of Angolan oil, were set to hit a 9-month low on a barrel-per-day basis, the survey showed, while India’s bookings were at their lowest in nearly a year. The shaky figures reflect the overhang of oil currently in Asia and looking for outlets after a tax change and
anti-pollution drive in China slowed the consumption of its independent refineries. Seasonal maintenance work limited oil intake at others. The strength of Brent crude benchmark prices also impinged sales. The contract rose steadily in March, peaking above $70 per barrel, which also pushed its premium to Dubai crude to a
more than two-year high. A wide gap between Brent and other benchmarks makes West. African oil – and all physicaly cargoes prices against dated Brent – less attractive to buyers with access to crude from other regions. Indian buyers are particularly aggressive in choosing crude based on the optimal price, and have in the past year issued tenders simultaneously for West Africa and U.S. grades.
