Key oil producers in West Africa are experiencing dwindling sales as export to Europe and Asia appear to be on steady decline.
Report shows that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused one of the biggest upheavals to global petroleum markets in living memory and still not resulting in a clamor for replacement barrels from west Africa.
Many of the region’s April oil cargoes have yet to find a market because the three biggest customers China, India and Europe are buying less, according to traders specializing in West African barrels.
“The Asian market has softened with the lockdowns and there is not as much West African crude going to China,” said Livia Gallarati, an analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd. “There has been some call on West African supply in Europe, but it isn’t as strong as North America or the Middle East.”
Nigeria’s sales to Asia are also suffering because its key buyer, India, is looking well-supplied following a spate of Russian oil purchases, McKay said, adding that India imported almost as much Urals from Russia last month as in all of last year.
The nation’s top refiners such as Indian Oil Corp. have been importing less African oil since the crisis started, tender data compiled by Bloomberg show.
West Africa’s other main market, Europe, is also seeing muted buying because oil refineries there view cargo offer prices as too high, traders said.
