North Sea physical market holds firm as maintenance looms

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) – North Sea physical crude continued to trade at firm premiums Thursday, as looming maintenance makes the June loading program one of the lowest on record.  

Norwegian grades Troll and Ekofisk consolidated recent gains with Troll trading at Dated Brent +$1.02/b, while Ekofisk was traded at Dated +$.0.85/b. Ekofisk was later bid at Dated +$0.90/b and offered at +$1.00/b – the highest premiums since February.

The North Sea market is expected to be particularly tight during June with total volumes of the five grades underpinning Dated Brent set to be one of the lowest on record at around 620,000 barrels per day – approximately one cargo per day.

Loading schedules for June puts Forties crude output at just two cargoes of 600,000 barrels each, said traders, compared to around 15 in a full-production month.

The North Sea basket of crudes is made up of Forties with a maximum production of 300,000 bpd, Ekofisk 290,000 bpd, Troll 170,000 bpd, Oseberg 135,000 bpd and Brent 70,000 bpd.

However, volumes regularly fall short of these levels due to maintenance schedules and unscheduled outages.