North Sea Crude-Ekofisk slips; Forties steady as VLCC fixtures emerge

LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) - North Sea Ekofisk crude oil differentials edged lower on Thursday, after a flurry of lower offers met with no buyers, while several new Asia shipping fixtures helped keep the price of Forties steady.

* Vitol has chartered the VLCC Desimi to load at Hound Point this week, while the Baltic Glory, owned by Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) , is expected to take 2 million barrels of Forties to Rotterdam, according to trading and shipping sources.

* Unipec has booked the Hakata to load at Hound Point and carry Forties to China next week. The vessel is currently just south of the Canary Islands, according to Reuters shipping data.

* The Trikwong Venture, originally booked by Trafigura, took on Forties last week, but has yet to leave the Scottish coast.

APRIL SUPPLY

* Supply of Brent, Forties, Oseberg and Ekofisk, the four grades which underpin dated Brent, will rise in April to around 908,000 barrels per day, from March's originally planned 884,000 bpd rate, according to monthly loading programmes.

* Details for the remaining eight major North Sea programmes are likely to emerge early next week.

WINDOW SUMMARY

* No deals were reported in the daily trading window.

* Statoil (LSE: 0M2Z.L - news) bid for a cargo of Oseberg for loading March 31-April 4 at a premium of 65 cents to the dated price.

* Vitol offered a cargo of Ekofisk at a discount of 20 cents to the dated Brent price for loading March 22-24.

* Statoil offered a cargo of Ekofisk for loading March 19-21 at parity with dated Brent.

* Litasco withdrew an offer for a cargo of Ekofisk for loading March 17-19 at parity with dated Brent. (Reporting by Amanda Cooper; Editing by David Evans)