LONDON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Oil traders have begun fixingtankers to take North Sea, West African and Arab crudes to SouthAfrica for storage, hoping for a repeat of the multi-milliondollar bonanza they reaped in 2008-2009.
Shipping fixtures show that in late July and August, BP, Mercuria, Total and Chevron all bookedsuezmaxes to deliver crude to South Africa, with traders sayingthat a good number of these barrels will go into storage.
Storing crude is now considered profitable for somecompanies because of a glut of barrels in the Atlantic Basinwhich has weighed on physical crude prices and Brent crudefutures.
As a result, a contango structure has developed which shouldallow traders to sell stored crude for a profit at a later date. (Reporting by Claire Milhench, editing by David Evans)