LONDON: Forties crude differentials fell to a new two-week low on Tuesday, under pressure from rising production levels and slow demand from Asia, while the Brent futures curve steepened against a backdrop of continuing oversupply.
The contango between the first- and second-month ICE Brent futures contracts increased to $1.01, its widest since June last year, not including expiry days, pushed out in part by the expected pickup in Forties supply.
The Buzzard oilfield, the largest contributing oilfield to the Forties stream with output of 180,000 bpd, is set to come back online on Tuesday or Wednesday after a month of planned maintenance work, an industry source said.
The VLCC Tianjin, which has been chartered by Vitol, has arrived at Hound Point to load Forties, according to Reuters ship-tracking. * Only one vessel has loaded at Hound Point so far this month, due partly to the planned shutdown at Buzzard.
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