Outages at North Sea oilfields have
helped put competing Nigerian oil on pace to arrive in Europe at the
highest levels in seven months in June, according to Refinitiv Eikon
data and traders.
Nigeria is set to export about 905,000 barrels
per day (bpd) to the continent this month, the most since a roughly
five-year high of about 1 million bpd in November.
Norwegian and
UK offshore fields in the North Sea normally provide a steady supply of
lighter crude to refineries feeding northern Europe’s major economies
and are traditionally more competitive than Nigerian grades due to their
proximity.
But planned maintenance on Norway’s Ekofisk
oilfields this month slashed exports to just one cargo from the usual
10-15. Flotta, another of the 12 North Sea fields, closed for repairs
over two weeks in late May.
"Nigerian grades are normally
middle-distillate-rich and with Ekofisk having undergone maintenance,
Nigeria is meeting European demand for this type of crude,” said Ehsan
Ul-Haq, lead analyst for oil research and forecasts at Refinitiv. Supply
of the five North Sea crude grades that underpin the dated Brent
benchmark is set to fall to around 720,000 bpd in June, from 948,000 bpd
the month before.
The contamination of a pipeline carrying
Russian Urals crude in April interrupted flows to central and eastern
Europe for a month and left stocks in need of replenishment. (Reuters)
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