West African oil producers, led by Nigeria and Angola, are expected to send the most crude to Asia in January in at least five years, the latest sign of how refineries in the world’s biggest demand region are scouring the world to replace supplies cut by OPEC’s Middle East producers, Bloomberg reported.
Shipments on the trade route, among the longest for supertankers, are set to soar to 2.19mb/d in February, the highest level since at least August 2011, up from 1.79mb/d currently projected for January, World Oil informed. January’s statistics may still increase, since Trafigura Group and Vitol Group are holding cargoes in total of 3.74mb, which are likely to be shipped to Asia.
China is set to import 1.3mb/d of crude oil from West Africa in February, a 14% increase from January. Buyers include Sinochem Group, PetroChina Co., and Unipec, the trading arm of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.