Indian buyer of Nigeria crude shifts to September

Nigerian light sweet continued to be under pressure with demand for July and August loading remaining slack while India, the biggest Asian buyer of Nigerian crude, has moved on to look for September loading barrels. Qua Iboe crude for August loading assessed about dated plus $1.20/$1.30 a barrel, the lowest since May 2010, little changed this week. About 6-8 cargoes of July loading cargoes have not been sold. Indian Oil Corp has issued a tender to buy light sweet crude for September loading, traders said on Friday. Grade and price offers should be submitted on Tuesday and Thursday. Offers will remain valid until Thursday. Sellers can also offer cargoes to be loaded in the second half of August. “IOC is issuing tenders less often and taking less volume,” a trader said. In the previous two tenders, IOC bought Nigerian Agbami and Angolan Hungo and Dalia for late-July and early August loading. India’s Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd surprised the market buying Gabonese Rabi Light for the first time.