North Sea Crude-Brent Blend diff falls, Forties stable

LONDON: Forties was offered at a discount for prompt loading on Wednesday while cargoes further out were at or above benchmark dated Brent owing to the sharp widening of the backwardation in front-month futures in the last few days.

No further VLCCs were seen booked for Asia apart from Gunvor's though a trading source expected some to surface as freight rates were weakening slightly, making the arbitrage more workable than a month ago.

However, the Brent-Dubai spread has widened sharply this week after hitting a near one-month on Nov. 17, which could weigh on demand despite lower freight.

The wide spread since the end of September weighed heavily on November demand in Asia for west African crude.?Reuters