* Some 7 cargoes of W.Africa oil move to U.S. in Sept, 3 of Azeri
* Nigeria imports slump from 40 mln bbl/mth in '07 to below 1 mln in
June-EIA
* Lower differentials for Angola, low Brent/WTI spread support flow
By Simon Falush and Libby George
LONDON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - U.S. crude buyers have pounced on light West
African and Azeri oil this month, as lower availability of domestic production
and a temporary squeeze on Canadian supply opened a window of opportunity for
these grades.
At least 7 million barrels of West African crude oil are bound for the
United States in September, ship-tracking data showed. Traders say this is
double the average of recent months.
However, the pick-up in imports into the United States is a far cry from the
tens of millions of barrels of oil that sailed each month from West Africa
before the shale boom, which slashed the demand for foreign oil.
And there's little chance of a return to anything approaching those levels.
Traders said a drop in Canadian exports of light, synthetic oil after a fire
caused an outage at an upgrader of tar sands, together with a shrinking premium
of Brent futures over West Texas Intermediate prices CL-LCO1=R , were
encouraging flows from outside the region into the United States.
ID:nL1N11L2BK
A lower Brent premium to U.S. crude makes African and Azeri oil more
affordable as both are pegged to the North Sea benchmark.
"Brent/WTI is very tight. September cargoes were bought when the spread was
at $3.50. At today's spread, even more should be going there," a trader of Azeri
oil said.
Brent's premium to U.S. crude is now at around $2.30, compared to a premium
as high as $7 in August CL-LC01=R .
Nigerian oil exports to the United States are now about 2 percent of what
they were at their peak of 42 million barrels a month back in early 2007, as are
Angolan exports, based on the most recent data from the Energy Information
Administration (EIA).
The drop in the spread has also encouraged a rare flurry of Azeri crude
shipments. Around three cargoes of Azeri oil, which has not moved across the
Atlantic in recent months, are set to ship in September as well as October,
according to traders.
While oil from the Atlantic basin is becoming more affordable to buyers from
the West, the opposite is true for Asian consumers. Brent's premium to Dubai
crude is at its largest in three months, making it more expensive than competing
Middle Eastern grades DUB-EFS-1M .
Weaker demand from China has also undermined Angolan differentials for
cargoes loading this month, and with little evidence of an improvement in
consumption in the world's largest commodity importer, West African oil is
likely to remain more attractive to buyers in Europe and the Americas in October
as well.
However, whether these flows last much beyond then will depend on how low
prices stay, traders said.
"It will depend on buying appetite. It looks like (American) buyers entered
the market when differentials slipped, so it depends on how the market fares in
October," a West African crude oil trader said.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
CHARTS on historical data of U.S. imports from Angola and Nigeria:
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MTTIMUSAO1&f=M
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MTTIMUSNI1&f=M
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>