U.S. WTI Midland was offered lower in the week’s final trading session, as differentials for North Sea grades held steady in low liquidity.
LOADING SCHEDULES
* March loading schedules for Troll, Oseberg and Johan Sverdrup emerged on Friday.
* Exports of Troll will fall to four cargoes in March compared to five in February (90,000 barrels per day vs 121,000 bpd).
* Exports of Oseberg will rise to three cargoes in March from two in February (68,000 bpd vs 48,000 bpd).
* Johan Sverdrup exports will reach 729,000 bpd next month, rising from 686,000 bpd in February.
PLATTS WINDOW
* Indications are on a free-on-board (FOB) basis unless marked as cost, insurance and freight (CIF) or delivered at place (DAP).
* WTI Midland: ExxonMobil offered a Feb. 17-21 cargo at dated Brent plus $3.50 CIF Rotterdam, but no buyers stepped forward to book it.
* WTI Midland was last in the window on Tuesday, when BP bid up to dated plus $4.50 CIF Rotterdam for Feb. 4-8 dates.
* Friday’s offer equated to around dated plus $2.19 on a FOB basis, according to Reuters calculations.
* Forties remained the lowest-priced grade underpinning dated Brent for the 10 day to one month ahead assessment window on Friday, and therefore set the benchmark.
* On Thursday, Total sold Feb. 23-25 Forties to Gunvor and Gunvor sold Feb. 19-21 Forties to Unipec, both at dated plus $1.85.
* Johan Sverdrup: Equinor offered a Feb. 10-14 cargo at dated Brent plus $2.95 CIF Rotterdam.
* Johan Sverdrup is not one of the grades that feed into the dated Brent benchmark.
NEWS
* Odfjell drillers at Equinor’s Mariner Platform called off strike action planned for Jan. 29 with a new working rotation deal reached, Britain’s Unite Union said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Robert Harvey; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)