The huge discount of WTI Crude to Brent Crude has been supporting cheaper U.S. crude barrels bound for Asia, while West African cargoes, priced off dated Brent, have grown difficult to sell to Asian customers. The wide WTI-Brent spread—$9 a barrel on Wednesday compared to $3-$4 a barrel just three months ago—is putting pressure on the arbitrage opportunity for West African grades, including crude varieties from OPEC members Angola and Nigeria, trading and market sources told Platts today. A recent increase in freight costs on the West Africa-Asian routes is also adding to the pressure. Last week, Asian refiners took just a handful of Angolan crude oil cargoes in the first round of trading for the July tenders, while many Asian customers opted for large volumes of U.S. crude oil instead, market sources told Platts. For example, Taiwan’s refiner CPC, which usually buys West African crude grades, purchased 8 […]