LONDON: North Sea Forties crude differentials were bid up on Monday by Trafigura, which is still keen to secure barrels for its planned shipment to Asia around the turn of the year.
The VLCC Daba, which was twice fixed for a Forties shipment to Asia, first with Shell and then with Trafigura but failed both times, now appears to be back on with Trafigura.
The trading house had earlier dropped it in favour of the Mesdar for a Jan. 2 departure, but a new fixture on Monday showed the 270,000 tonne Daba slotted in for a Dec. 31 shipment from Hound Point to the East.
Ship tracking data also showed the VLCC Front Commodore was anchored off Hound Point, where Forties is loaded.
Shell originally booked this vessel in November for a Dec. 15 shipment to South Korea, which seems likely to go ahead.
However, the Sasa, which was nominated by Unipec for a Dec. 25 shipment from the North Sea to China, now appears to be heading to Freeport in the United States.
Another fixture for the Mediterranean emerged with Statoil looking to take 80,000 tonnes of Grane from Sture to Sarroch, Italy, on the Maretirrenum, loading around Dec. 25.
Mediterranean refiners have been steady buyers of North Sea grades since the start of November, as Libyan crude has been absent from the market. This demand is expected to continue as long as key Libyan oil terminals remain closed.
"A rebound (for Brent) may now be on the cards, especially given ongoing arbitrage of North Sea grades such as Forties and Oseberg to east of Suez and the Med, where regional sweet crude differentials have traded at consistently strong premiums to dated Brent as a result of absent Libyan production," David Wech, an oil analyst at JBC Energy, said in a note.
FORTIES
No cargoes traded in the afternoon price assessment window, although there were several bids and offers.
BP offered Jan. 3-5 Forties at dated Brent plus 50 cents. Mercuria offered a Jan. 8-10 cargo at dated Brent plus 30 cents and a Jan. 10-12 cargo at dated plus 35 cents.
On the bid side, Trafigura sought Forties loading on Jan. 3-5 at dated Brent plus 40 cents and Shell bid for Jan. 8-12 Forties at dated Brent plus 15 cents.
Friday's trade came at dated Brent plus 30 cents for Jan. 4-6 Forties.
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