W.Africa Crude - Differentials steady as demand remains muted

LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - West African crude differentials remained subdued in a quiet session on Wednesday, as lacklustre demand in Asia and stiff competition from rival grades continued to weigh on prices.

• The West African market was muted on Wednesday as buying interest remains broadly muted, a trader said.
• Asian refiners have been favouring U.S. WTI crude in recent purchases, the trader added. West African grades have received stiff competition from Latin American, U.S., and Middle Eastern grades in their core demand regions in recent weeks.
• A local West African buyer was heard to have picked up cargoes of Nigerian Escravos and Qua Iboe, and Angolan Plutonio, a trader said, but further details could not be confirmed.
• Nigerian crude exports to other countries averaged 1.28 million bpd over July 1-15, according to Kpler, up slightly from 1.2 million bpd across the whole of June.
• Meanwhile, Angola loaded around 900,000 bpd over the first half of July, down from 1.06 million bpd in June, the data showed, around half of which is headed for China.