LONDON: West African crude markets were generally quiet on Thursday, although there was a new tender from India's IOC for April delivery, which could help absorb Nigerian cargoes for late-March loading.
Sellers also looked to European refining margins as a bright point for demand, as Nigerian and Angolan barrels are largely reliant on European and Asian consumption amid rising stockpiles in the United States.
High margins in Europe have raised discussions of delayed or pared back maintenance plans, which could add to the region's appetite for crude.
Analysts JBC noted forward margins for refining in Europe have reached two-year highs of $5 per barrel, which could enable companies to lock in the profits for their production and thus continue producing at high rates.
"If this opportunity is taken up by enough refiners, this could somewhat delay the fall in European crude runs that we expect in the second half of 2015," JBC said.
NIGERIA
Cargoes of Nigerian crude continued to sell slowly, with less than half of the 1.76 million barrels per day offered in March still available.
A tender from India's IOC could help absorb late-March loading cargoes. In its last tender, IOC took two million barrels of Nigeria's largest crude stream of Qua Iboe from Vitol.
ANGOLA
Most March-loading Angola cargoes have been sold, though some of the buyers were reoffering. * Shipping fixtures showed India's BPCL chartering the Delta Harmony to carry 130,000 tonnes of Girassol to Sikka.
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