LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Differentials for Angolan crudehave risen this week after a flurry of buying from Chineserefineries absorbed more than half of the November loadingprogramme.
Independent refiners in China's Shandong province imported42.4 million tonnes of crude in the first half of 2018, 41.4percent higher than a year earlier, a senior refinery executivesaid on Tuesday.
NIGERIA AND ANGOLA
* Demand from Chinese refiners for Angolan crude has beenrobust this month. Only around 40 percent of the 46 cargoes inthe November programme are still available for sale, traderssaid.
* Traders said offers for November-loading Girassol werearound $1.40-1.45 a barrel above the dated Brent price, comparedwith recent indications of closer to 70 cents a barrel, whileCabinda has been offered at a premium of $1.00 a barrel abovedated Brent, up from closer to 50 cents recently.
* BP was bidding for early-October loading cargoes of QuaIboe, Bonny Light and Bonga at premiums of between $1.40 and$1.60 a barrel above dated Brent, compared with indications of$1.60-1.65 on Monday, traders said.
* Trading house Mercuria was offering a cargo of Octoberloading Forcados as high as $2.00 a barrel above the datedprice, up from around $1.70 on Monday. Even after cutting theoffer to $1.75, no buyers surfaced.
* Only a few of the smaller Nigerian loading programmes,such as Brass River, Ebok and Oyo had not yet emerged. So far,exports look likely to top 1.9 million bpd in November, whichwould be the largest loading programme since May's 1.895 millionbpd schedule.
RELATED NEWS
* Royal Dutch Shell wants to reweight its footprint inNigeria to focus on oil and gas fields far offshore, away fromthe theft, spills, corruption and unrest that have plagued theWest African country's onshore industry for decades. But for thecompany that pioneered Nigeria's oil industry in the 1950s, theNiger Delta remains as important -- and problematic -- as ever.
* India will continue to depend on oil as a mainstay of itsenergy but its oil demand growth will likely slow as thegovernment pushes for cleaner energy and renewables, HarishMehta, President, Refining & Marketing at Reliance IndustriesRELI.NS, said on Tuesday.
TENDERS
* Uruguay's state-run oil firm ANCAP has launched a tenderto buy a 1-million-barrel cargo of a medium to light crude fordelivery Nov. 23-27 at Jose Ignacio port. The crude must containup to 1.5 percent of sulfur. Bids, indexed to Brent crude frontmonth prices, will be accepted through Sep. 26.(Reporting by Amanda Cooper; Editing by Ed Osmond)))
