Nigeria is expected to ship more cargoes this month despite an unfavourable price disparity between the Brent crude and Nigeria’s bonny light. According to Reuters, strong demand from India will mean that cargoes will continue to move out of Nigeria to feed refineries in India operating at full capacity. Reuters also confirmed that despite the price disparity, steep declines in Nigeria’s crude oil price has helped Nigeria ship its crude.
Crude from West Africa hit a 5 months high last month after Asian countries led by China and India drove a strong demand for oil . A total of 64 cargoes left African shores in December compared to 59 expected in January. A total of 1,808,000 bpd will be shipped in January compared to 1,961,000 bpd in December. NNPC data shows Nigeria is thought to have exported an estimated 511.8 billion barrels between January and October 2015.