Boosted by trade houses, more West African oil to sail east in Sept

The amount of West African crude
oil heading east in September is expected to reach a five-month
high, driven in part by trading houses, according to a Reuters
survey of shipping fixtures and traders on Friday.
    At least 60 cargoes, carrying the equivalent of 1.9 million
barrels per day (bpd), are expected to make the journey, up from
1.685 million bpd in August and the highest on a bpd basis since
April. 
    Increased bookings to India and Indonesia, and by trading
houses, offset a decline in China's buying.
    Falling freight costs, which hit multi-year lows over the
summer, helped encourage traders to ship oil east. A deepened
contango, in which future prices are above current levels, also
encouraged traders to take their time securing buyers.
 
    Sources said trading houses including Trafigura, Gunvor and
Statoil were holding cargoes that they plan to send east, while
others such as Vitol had booked vessels to load without a clear
destination.
    Indonesia's buying, with at least three cargoes of Nigeria's
Escravos, related in part to tenders that state oil company
Pertamina issued earlier this year. Glencore and Chevron booked
the cargoes for Pertamina. 
    A cargo of Equatorial Guinean crude was set to sail for
South Korea, while other cargoes will head for Australia and
Singapore. 

 COUNTRY    September    BPD '000s  August       BPD '000s
            cargoes                 cargoes      
 CHINA      27           855        30           919
 INDIA      17           538        16           490
 INDONESIA  6            190        2            61
 TAIWAN     2            63         4            123
 JAPAN      0            0          0            0
 S. KOREA   1            32         0            0
 OTHERS     7            222        3            92
 TOTAL      60           1,900      55           1,685