Chinese refiners are not rushing to finalize deals for oil cargoes from West Africa for August, expecting prices of crude grades from Angola to drop from recent highs as the global oil benchmark slumped and the market structure points to weakening premiums for prompt deliveries, Reuters reported on Monday, quoting refining and trading sources in Asia. China’s refiners are currently in the market looking for supplies for August, but they are not jumping to close deals because the Brent Crude backwardation—the market situation in which front-month prices are trading at a premium compared to prices further out in the future—has sharply narrowed, pointing to possible weakening of the spot prices, industry sources told Reuters. Sources at Chinese refineries told Reuters that the differentials of West African crudes are still very high, making imports unprofitable. In addition, refining margins in Asia have been recently pressured and dropped to their lowest […]