On October 11, the players in the national oil market agreed on the price of a barrel of crude oil at 78.59 dollars, representing an average quarterly differential of -0.34 dollars per barrel. The prices of the reference crudes were readjusted to 75.99 dollars for Djeno Blend , 78.12 for Nkossa Blend and 81.67 for Yombo.
Congolese crudes were traded on the international market in the third quarter with differentials ranging from -2,250 dollars/bl to 1,360 dollars/bl, significantly better than the previous quarter. Concerning Dieno Melange, cargoes continue to compete with Russian Ural, heading this time to China, France, Romania and Italy. Cargoes of Nkossa Blend, for their part, took the destinations of Italy, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.
The Q3 2024 oil pricing meeting observed the “behavior” of Yombo which remained faithful to its pricing period at the monthly average. Oriented towards the Singaporean market, Yombo’s cargo was traded with a differential of $1,250/bl, favored by the shortage of low sulfur fuel oils in the region, thus drastically increasing the price of LSFO.
During the discussions, oil stakeholders, including representatives of the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and oil company executives, managed to agree on “balanced” prices that took into account economic realities and the government’s roadmap. Due to the volatility of the international market, partly due to the drop in demand in major markets (China, United States) and geopolitical conflicts, the authorities advocated a policy focused on flexible management of Congolese crude prices.
” In response to these global dynamics, we have identified key strategic projects for our national sector. Among them, the development of the valorization of natural gas. Another important subject is the question of the Value Added Tax. This is a major point of attention for all stakeholders in the sector. The government is fully aware of the issues related to this subject, and we await your proposals in order to move forward together and find suitable solutions ,” indicated the chief of staff of the Minister of Hydrocarbons, Pr Macaire Batchi.
Regarding the prices of black gold on the world market, oil companies observed a downward trend, opening the quarter at $88 and closing the quarter at $72.89, it reached its highest level on July 5, 2024 with a barrel of Brent dated at $89. The quarterly average achieved by the benchmark crude was $80, a decrease of 4.63 compared to the second quarter of 2024.
