West African oil prices hammered by high freight costs, spread
23 February 2026
Time to read: minutes
“If the EFS won’t budge, then the West Africa premiums need to,” said Neil Crosby, an oil analyst at Sparta Commodities SA. “We have high freight for the long-haul arbitrage East, and the EFS makes the West-East arbitrage hard as well.”
Bloomberg, Febraury 23, 2026 –West African crude prices are under pressure as high freight rates and a firm Brent-Dubai EFS make shipments to Asia increasingly uneconomic. As Sparta’s Neil Crosby put it, “If the EFS won’t budge, then the West Africa premiums need to,” highlighting that differentials must fall to keep barrels competitive against shorter-haul Middle Eastern supplies.
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