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Buyers of South Sudanese crude oil have been looking for alternative sources following the conflict that broke out last month affecting oil production in especially South Kordofan and Unity State.<\/p>\n
South Sudan which had been producing 250,000 b\/d is now losing buyers from India, China and Japan who have now sought new markets to replace the Nile Blend crude from Sudan and South Sudan with supplies remaining unreliable.<\/p>\n
Production from Sudan despite being reliable is far below demand with an estimated 50,000-60,000 b\/d. As a result only two cargoes of the Nile Blend crude will be offered in February all of which is from Sudan.<\/p>\n
Already on customer the Indian MRPL refinery has already sourced 1 million barrel cargo from Argentina a first for the South East Asian plant considering that its parent company OGNC has equity in Sudan and south Sudan.<\/p>\n
Chinese and Taiwanese refiners Chinaoil and Unipec have also sourced 100% crude oil from Angola as the West African crude (Cabinda) closely resembles the Nile Blend though it is unlikely that Cabinda could replace Nile Blend with Chad\u2019s Doba a better option<\/p>\n
A Japanese refinery is said to have sourced 950,000 barrels of Doba in mid January.<\/p>\n
This is as the likes of Chinaoil, Unipec, European trader Vitol and Indian and Japanese refiners prefer the heavier Dar blend.<\/p>\n
Since December the Dar Blend crude production has dropped by over 70 percent from 190,000-200,000 b\/d up to 50,000 b\/d with just\u00a0 an estimated 4 million barrels expected to be sold in February.<\/p>\n
Another alternative for the Dar crude could be Indonesia\u2019s Duri. The Cabinda will however remain a favourite to replace the Nile Blend if the conflict continues.<\/p>\n
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