West African crude oil differentials were stable on Thursday as traders awaited guidance on future price discovery from an OPEC meeting this weekend.
West African crude price differentials have fallen under pressure recently from waning demand as Asian refineries enter autumn maintenance plans, however a floor has been provided by strong fuel refining margins, traders said this week.
Traders are now looking ahead to an OPEC meeting this weekend, where eight OPEC+ members will consider further raising oil production, as the group seeks to regain market share.
Nigeria is an OPEC member state, Angola left the group at the start of 2024.
Traders were also awaiting price discovery this week from fresh buy tenders from Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Indonesia's Pertamina are running this week, but results were slow to surface.
In refining news, the gasoline unit at Nigeria's 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote refinery may be shut for two to three months for repairs, industry monitor IIR Energy told clients on Thursday.
In upstream news, oil and gas company Afentra has signed a framework agreement for its first operated license offshore Angola in a block with proven resources, the London-listed company said on Thursday.
(Reporting by Robert Harvey, Editing by Louise Heavens)