Nigeria plans to export a total of at least 2.04 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in October, the highest level this year, according to provisional loading programmes, Reuters reports.
The amount compares with planned September exports of just under 2 million barrels per day, and is the highest total since January, when the country issued an initial programme of 62.97 million bpd, or 2.03 million bpd.
The record however, comes at an unfortunate time for Nigeria, as European refinery maintenance typically peaks in October, limiting the amount of crude oil they consume while Asian demand has also started to wane, with Chinese refineries cutting runs and its shaky economic growth beginning to impact on international commodity markets.
The outlook sees more pressured differentials to dated Brent for West African crude grades as the Brent benchmark on which Nigerian export prices are based are still close to 6-1/2 year lows.
