INSIGHT: Pressure likely to remain on Africa base oil demand  23
January 2013 17:39  [Source: ICIS news]  By Ross Yeo  A Lagos
road during the Jan 2012 fuel strikeLONDON (ICIS)--Twenty
twelve was a challenging year for the European base oil export
market, with many key export destinations showing below par
demand.  Among these were the three largest African markets,
Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt, which, at various times and for
various reasons, all imported less base oils than in previous
years.  While much of this reduced demand for imports can be
traced to macroeconomic factors - primarily the knock-on effects
from the struggling eurozone – local factors were also in play.
How these local factors evolve could have an effect on the
European base oil market, in particular the Baltic Sea export
market, which is again currently facing low demand.  Nigeria,
the largest base oil importer in Africa and therefore the market
with probably the greatest influence on Europe, is estimated by
traders to have shown 10-