Nigerian crude sees low demand in Europe as US exports rise

Nigerian oil has suffered its slowest sales of the year in August, traders said, as US exports of competing light, sweet grades flood traditional markets in Europe and Asia. Despite this, European refiners still fall over themselves over Nigeria’s Egina crude oil because of its quality and suitability for the refineries and its high yields. The new group managing director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation ( NNPC), Mele Kyari, has, however, stated that in spite of the threats, Nigeria was still going ahead to realise its dream of producing 3 million

barrels per day of oil in the nearest future. Kyari said there would be investments by stakeholders that would make the anticipated 40 billion barrels reserve feasible. According to Reuters, the changes illustrate how US President Donald Trump’s strategy for “energy dominance” is reshaping oil markets worldwide, as US oil exports surged 260,000 barrels per day in June to a monthly record of 3.16 million bpd. Crude from Africa’s top exporter has largely been pushed out of the US market in the last decade due to booming domestic output. Exports to the United States slid to zero for three weeks in July, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. But now shale oil from the U.S. Permian basin is pouring ever more into traditional strongholds for Nigerian oil in Western Europe, India and Indonesia. Both Nigeria and the United States are big producers of the kind of light, sweet grades that are ideal for refining into gasoline. According to IHS Markit, Europe has imported around 46 percent of Nigeria’s oil since the beginning of 2019, India nearly 18 percent, and the rest of Asia about another 10 percent. “They’re facing bigger competition from the U.S., and in the last few weeks, U. S. exports have really picked up,” one major buyer of West African crude told Reuters. As many as 40 cargoes for export in August were still in need of buyers when Nigeria began publishing its preliminary programme for September exports beginning on Jul. 18. It was the largest oversupply so far in 2019, with about 25 cargoes the monthly norm. Though the excess has begun to clear, in part due to energy majors absorbing much of the excess into their own refining systems, the discounts sellers made to attract interest have lowered price expectations for Nigerian exports for September. “They’ve got a big volume