Nigeria's unsold oil starts to build up as buyers take their time

Nigeria’s crude for May loading has been very slow to find buyers so far, with more than half of the scheduled cargoes yet clear.

More than 30 of the nation’s cargoes are still looking for buyers, according to traders specializing in West African crudes. A total of at least 53 are scheduled to load from Nigeria next month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Most of the consignments are one million barrels.

The country’s crude cargoes can be openly traded into either Asia, Europe or even the US, making the pace of sales a closely watched market detail.

Demand for Nigerian oil has been curbed by heavy refinery turnarounds in Europe that created an excess of April barrels going into the current May trading cycle, the people said.

Competitive rival producers in the Mediterranean have also cut into Nigeria’s sales, the people said.

The west African country’s sales also have to contend with higher freight costs and premium prices for more-immediate supplies.

By contrast, sales of Angola’s May-loading crude have been fairly steady, with only five or six out of the 34 planned shipments still available.

The country’s crude benefited from good demand from buyers in Asia like China and India, the people said. The International Energy Agency also cited strong demand for Angolan barrels in India in its monthly report.