Royal Dutch Shell declared force majeure on its Bonny Light shipments, while Nigerian crude was taken in two tenders on Thursday, traders said.
Traders assessed Bonny Light at around dated Brent plus $3.10 with Qua Iboe around 5 cents lower due to greater supply. Differentials were judged to be slightly weaker to around dated plus $3.20 last week. Indonesian state oil firm Pertamina bought 950,000 barrels of Nigerian Qua Iboe crude for April arrival via its regular tender, down from the 2.15 million barrels it bought last month, a company source said on Thursday. The company has issued a second tender to buy sweet crude for April arrival which closes on Feb. 17 and remains valid until Feb. 18, the source said.
India’s Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd has bought 650,000 barrels of Nigerian grade Forcados for March lifting via a tender, its first spot purchase in 19 months, a trade source said on Thursday. The company purchased the grade from Vitol for dated Brent plus $3.90, the source said. This was not confirmed.
Shell said on Thursday it had declared force majeure on its Nigerian Bonny oil shipments with effect from 1800 GMT on Tuesday due to insecurity in the Niger Delta. “It will affect the remainder of February and perhaps March offtakes with some deferred to April,” he said. Traders said they expected no new cargoes of Bonny Light to be loaded in April with the shipment already sold for February and March loading expected to be delayed or cancelled.
