China to Take a Third Less West African Oil as Virus Hits Demand
- Region hit by dramatic drop in consumption from key customer
- Crude glut means increased price pressure on European grades
This article is for subscribers only.
The volume of crude that will be shipped to China from West Africa next month is set to drop by at least ten million barrels as the demand destruction caused by the coronavirus hits home.
Exports of March-loading cargoes to China are expected to total no more than 20 million barrels in March, according to three oil traders who specialize in West African grades. That compares with about 33 million barrels that were scheduled for export to the Asian nation in February, data compiled by Bloomberg show. China is the biggest buyer of crude from the region, whose key producing nations include Angola and Nigeria.