W.Africa Crude - Nigerian September programmes in focus, grades hold steady

LONDON, July 23 (Reuters) - Nigeria's September loading programmes started to emerge, traders said on Thursday, while West African crude oil differentials held steady.

• Nigeria is due to load four cargoes of Escravos, two cargoes of Agbami, two cargoes of Utapate and one of Usan in September, according to preliminary programs seen by Reuters.
• Senegal would load three cargoes in September, Ivory Coast could load around three cargoes from the Baleine project, while Chad would load four cargoes of its Doba crude.
• The market was in wait-and-see mode, another trader said. Some sellers have been hiking offers on renewed concern about Middle East supplies, traders have said this week, though details were scant.
• Doba was being offered at minus $2 to dated Brent, one source added. Earlier in the month, it was being offered at minus $4.
• Yemen's Houthis said they had attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, adding to concerns over global supply disruptions from a near-halt in trade through the Strait of Hormuz.
• Kazakhstan said it has reduced oil production after suspected Ukrainian drone attacks forced its main export terminal on the Black Sea to close. The route handles around 2% of the world's daily crude supply.
• Separately, Nigeria was the top exporter of fuel oil to the Singapore oil products hub in the week, data showed.