W.Africa Crude-Supported by Asian demand

http://af.reuters.com/article/angolaNews/idAFLDE7091S620110110?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

* Qua Iboe valued at dtd plus $2.00; Bonny Light plus $1.95

* Angolan March loading programmes expected early next week

LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Nigerian crude oil differentials held steady on Monday, supported by strong Asian demand via tender and limited supplies.

"Qua Iboe values, in particular, are being held up by shorts into Asia," said a west African crude oil trader with a large U.S. oil company.

NIGERIA

* As many as five benchmark Qua Iboe cargoes for Nigeria were still looking for homes potentially, traders said, with offers between dated Brent plus $2.15 and plus $2.25 but doable levels thought to be closer to plus $2.00. Taleveras was said to be sitting on two Qua Iboe cargoes, loading Feb. 7-8 and Feb. 19-20, while Aiteo was holding a cargo loading Feb. 23-24 and BP had the last two cargoes of the month, loading Feb. 26-27 and Feb. 27-28. Some of these cargoes were probably destined for IOC, traders said.

* Bonny Light: said to be at a discount to Qua Iboe of around 5-10 cents.* Forcadoes: Trafigura was reported to have a Forcados loading Feb. 12-13 while Vitol had a Jan. 19-20. Assessments of this trade were pitched around Qua Iboe plus $1.00, so close to dated Brent plus $3.00.

* Okwori: Glencore was reported to be indicating a mid-February loading Okwori cargo at around dated Brent plus $2.50, traders said.

ANGOLA

* All Angolan cargoes for February have now been sold by equity holders, traders said.

* Traders expect the Angolan loading programme for March to emerge by next week.

ASIAN BUYING TENDERS

* Petral, the trading unit of Indonesian state-run energy firm Pertamina, has issued a mini-term tender to buy a cargo each of Nigerian and Azeri crude oil each month from March to May, a trade source said on Monday. Petral specified it wished to buy one 950,000-barrel cargo each month of Nigerian Bonny Light and another cargo of Azeri Light, the source said. Offers are due by Jan. 12 and an award would be made on Jan. 13. Petral has previously bought a range of other crudes including Nigerian Qua Iboe and Escravos.

* India's largest state-owned refinery, Indian Oil Corp. (IOC), has tendered to buy sweet crude oil for March loading. Grade offers are due into the tender on Jan. 11 and news of an award should come out by Jan. 13, traders said.

* India's Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) has open a tender to buy 1 million barrels of February-loading sweet crude. Grade offers were due by Jan. 7, with price offers by Jan. 10, and offers must remain valid until Jan. 11. Last month, the refiner bought 1 million barrels of Nigerian Agbami crude oil for February loading.

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(Reporting by Christopher Johnson; editing by James Jukwey)