Asian imports of W.African crude oil jump in Sept

LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Asian imports of West African crude oil will rise sharply in September, due mainly to a substantial increase in purchases by Indian refiners as their processing capacity expands, a Reuters survey showed on Friday.

In total, Asian end-consumers have lined up 1.77 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil for loading in September in 56 full or part-cargoes, up from 1.32 million bpd in 43 cargoes loading in August.

Indian buyers, led by state-controlled refiner Indian Oil Corp. (IOC), have taken a total of 26 cargoes of West African crude loading in September, mostly from Nigeria, the highest total recorded in more than two-and-a-half years, according to Reuters data. In August, Indian buyers imported only 10 cargoes.

Chinese buyers bought a similar volume of crude for September loading, but mostly preferred oil from Angola and also took barrels from Equatorial Guinea, the survey of oil companies and shippers showed.

In the third quarter on average, Asian buyers have imported 1.67 million bpd of West African crude, down from 1.73 million bpd in the second quarter but up from 1.53 million bpd in the third quarter of last year, Reuters data show. (Reporting by Christopher Johnson; editing by Dmitry Zhdannikov)