N Sea benchmark crude loadings at 20-year low in June

Market: Crude oil
29/04/25

Combined loadings of the five local North Sea benchmark grades Brent, Forties, Oseberg, Ekofisk and Troll will drop to 350,000 b/d in June, the lowest in at least 20 years.

Only one cargo of Ekofisk is planned for June, to load in the last days of the month. This is the lowest on Argus' records going back more than 15 years. The number of the only June cargo suggests that one shipment was added to the May programme, but this was not confirmed.

The drop in Ekofisk exports is a result of maintenance. ConocoPhillips will shut down the fields it operates in the Ekofisk area and the Nordpipe system for maintenance in June, the company previously told Argus. The planned shutdown will last around four weeks. The company did not specify by how much exports would be reduced. ConocoPhillips operates the Ekofisk and the Eldfisk fields in the Ekofisk area, which produced around 100,000 b/d of crude last year.

Loadings of Brent will be largely steady at 23,000 b/d, or one cargo. Both Norwegian-produced Oseberg and Troll will have one fewer cargo in June, with two and three, respectively.

Forties is the only grade of which exports will increase in June to 187,000 b/d across eight cargoes, up by 18pc, or one shipment, from May. Forties production will drop to a four-year low during maintenance in August.

Such low availability of just one cargo of benchmark crude loading every other day can support the price of North Sea Dated in May. The sixth benchmark grade US WTI, added to the basket in mid-2023, offers much higher liquidity, with around 1.4mn b/d delivered to Europe so far this year — or roughly two cargoes a day. But local grades have been setting Dated as the cheapest option 84pc of the time this year so far, and tighter supply in June could support the benchmark's price.

By Lina Bulyk

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