W. Africa Crude-Sonangol seeks to sell several cargoes but buyers hold out

 LONDON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Angolan state oil company Sonangol
sought to sell three of its cargoes for November at relatively
high prices but buyers resisted, as lackluster Asian demand has
caused slow trading. ANGOLA * Sonangol was offering a cargo of November-loading Cabinda
at a premium of $3.50 above dated Brent, but Chevron offered its
own cargo of Cabinda for 40 cents less, with only a few days
separating the scheduled export days of the two cargoes. * Around three or four cargoes remain for export in October
and a little over a dozen for November. * Some traders saw that price offerings more reflected the
prices for those grades in previous months rather than the
reality of a market with steep freight rates and flat margins. * Sonangol was also seeking to sell Gindungo and Dalia. NIGERIA * At least 15 cargoes of October-loading crude remain for
export, as reduced prices have largely met buyer expectations,
increasing the pace of sales in recent days. * Freight rates for U.S. crude tankers bound for Asia were
bid up to a more than three-year peak this week as U.S.
sanctions on a Chinese transport giant cut vessel availability. TENDERS * No award was made for a tender by South African refiner
Astron which closed for a cargo delivering on Nov. 22-23. * India's IOC was running tenders for two cargoes of West
African crude for November delivery set to close later this
week. RELATED NEWS * U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 228,000 barrels,
compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a
449,000-barrel gain. * Russian oil output C-RU-OUT edged down to 11.25 million
barrels per day (bpd) last month from August's 11.29 million bpd
but remained above the caps set under a global production deal. (Reporting by Noah Browning; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) ))