Nigerian differentials have fallen enough to whittle down an overhang of unsold cargoes and even encouraged some buying from a major Indian refiner, traders said on Thursday.

One trading source said around 30 cargoes were left from the August and September programmes combined from an originally planned 59 cargoes.

This surplus was above 40 last week. Nigerian Forcados and Bonny Light were offered at the same levels heard earlier in the week, around $1.30 above dated Brent and $1.10-1.20 a barrel, respectively. With October loading schedules due any time, sellers were unwilling to cut prices further.

India’s IOC was thought to have taken as much as 4 million barrels of West African crude at its latest tender for cargoes for delivery in late October, traders said. Trading houses Glencore and Vitol were said to have won the tender.

Source: Reuters