Nigerian crude oil grades under pressure

Nigerian oil differentials edged lower on Tuesday due to ample February supplies, while the cancellation of strikes and protests over fuel subsidies also weighed on sentiment. Nigerian trade unions called off strikes and protests on Monday, ending a major confrontation over fuel prices that risked affecting oil exports. “The February cargoes still hanging around should be enough for the differentials to come off,” said a West African crude oil trader, adding that the main factor weighing on prices was slow demand for Nigerian cargoes. Asia is importing record volumes of Nigeria oil this year, rebuilding stocks after relatively low shipments in December, but this has not offset weaker demand from the Mediterranean and the United States.
Traders said that there were less than 10 Nigerian cargoes
still available for February ahead of March loading programmes expected later this week. Traders said that there were at least two Brass River cargoes unsold from the February programme. Qua Iboe BFO-QUA is thought to be sold out for February and was assessed at around dated plus $2.80 a barrel, down about 10 cents from Monday.