LONDON: Forties and Brent were offered lower on Friday without drawing in any buyers, suggesting differentials may have to fall further.
Two VLCCs containing Forties, Samail and Maran Thetis, are at anchor off the UK coast, according to Reuters shipping data. Total was looking to sell barrels from the Maran Thetis.
"If they can't sell it, ultimately, diffs will have to come down," a trading source said of Total's offers.
A drop in flow rates on the Forties Pipeline System is lending support, traders said. The flow has been cut by around 11 percent, one trader said. Shell has fixed another VLCC, Sara, to sail to South Korea with Forties on June 20 according to shipping data, apparently replacing a similar fixture for earlier loading dates.
WINDOW SUMMARY
Total offered Forties from the Maran Thetis loading on June 20-25 at August BFOE minus $1.35, down 10 cents from its offer on a BFOE basis on Thursday.
The offer was equal to roughly dated Brent plus 7 cents. Forties traded on Thursday at dated Brent minus 15 cents.
Brent: Glencore offered a June 28-30 cargo at dated Brent minus 10 cents, lower than an offer on Thursday at a premium to the benchmark and putting Brent and Forties at parity.
Ekofisk: Shell bid for a July 1-5 cargo at dated plus 40 cents, down 5 cents from its bid on Thursday.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.