LONDON: North Sea crude output is set to rise in July after four months of declines, loading programmes indicated, creating more plentiful supply in the home of the Brent benchmark.
Supply from 12 North Sea crude streams will average 1.99 million barrels per day (bpd), up from June's rate of 1.82 million bpd, according to Reuters calculations based on loading programmes provided by trade sources.
The rise is mainly due to the end of maintenance at the Ekofisk field, which cut output in June.
The combination of higher oil supply and limited demand has been putting downward pressure on crude price differentials, say traders.
"It does seem like the market is a bit long," said a North Sea crude trader. "What we need is the French refineries to start buying again."
Three of Total's oil refineries in France are restarting production after a near month-long strike against a planned government labour reform bill, potentially boosting demand for North Sea crude.
Despite the increase next month, North Sea output will still be lower than February's 2.23 million bpd, the highest since April 2012, according to Reuters data.
Supply is in long-term decline as larger, easier-to-tap deposits are pumped out, but new projects already online such as Golden Eagle are partly compensating for more depleted fields.
More reliable output from the largest field in the UK North Sea, Buzzard, is also helping boost output. The field, which contributes to the Forties stream and has been beset in the past by unplanned outages, has not had any so far this year, industry sources said.
The Brent benchmark is based on four North Sea crudes: Forties, Oseberg and Ekofisk as well as Brent itself. Output of these is scheduled to rise in July as extra supply of Ekofisk counters declines in Brent and Oseberg.
The table below is based on the latest known loading programmes for 12 crude streams tracked by Reuters.
Total volumes are in millions of barrels and loading rates are in barrels per day.
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