Differentials slip but tanker logjam could boost demand
Slow buying in Europe and especially China again dented differentials but traders said some buyers may turn to West African oil to replace volumes stranded in a tanker logjam off Turkey.
* Offers for light sweet Nigerian Qua Iboe and Bonny Light crude stood at between dated Brent plus $1 and $1.50 a barrel.
* Pertamina closed a tender for February arriving crude, but results did not immediately emerge.
* The Agbami stream in Nigeria began maintenance this week, with outages to other grades mostly resolved.
* Slow Chinese buying and high freight rates weighed on sales, especially for larger tanker sizes.
* The Mediterranean and markets further afield were braced for shortfalls in volumes as a standoff over insurance stalled oil exports from the Black Sea region with more than 20 tankers stranded off Turkish waters.
* Flagging demand for West African crude could soon be revived, with many of the affected barrels coming from Kazakhstan.
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* Turkey's maritime authority said on Thursday it would continue to block the passage of oil tankers that don't carry appropriate insurance letters, adding that insurance checks on ships in its waters were a "routine procedure".
* The two largest U.S. oil companies - Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp - disclosed plans to increase outlays on energy projects next year amid high oil demand and prices.