North Sea Crude-Forties diffs hit one-month high; surplus oil on ships

LONDON, March 21 (Reuters) - * Forties crude differentials bounced to their highest in a month on Tuesday, following a flurry of higher bids, as demand remained strong for cargoes loading in early April.

* There is no shortage of available oil. At least 8.5 million barrels of North Sea crude are currently being stored on ships, according to Reuters calculations.

* But this has not prevented the forward curve from entering backwardation, as potential buyers bid up the price of barrels for delivery in a few weeks.

* There are three VLCCs currently at anchor, fully laden with Forties, and a further three aframaxes holding Ekofisk and Brent.

* The Trikwong Venture is at Scapa Flow, ready for ship-to-ship transfers. Trading house Vitol has been offering cargoes from the vessel for loading in early April, as well as from the Desimi.

* Glencore (Frankfurt: 8GC.F - news) has chartered the Atlantic Pioneer to load Forties later this week, bound for Asia. The ship is currently at Fawley in southern England, according to Reuters tracking data.

* The DHT Europe, currently on lease to Total (LSE: 524773.L - news) 's shipping arm, is heading towards Hound Point, where it will load Forties. Shipping sources said it is not yet clear whether Total or another company has chartered the vessel for the voyage to Asia.

* The DHT Lion is at Hound Point, but trading sources say it is not yet clear when the vessel will load and where it will head.

* The suezmax Astra, chartered by Statoil (LSE: 0M2Z.L - news) , has loaded Oseberg at Sture and is heading to the U.S. Gulf.

* Of the 12 streams of North Sea crude tracked by Reuters, Oseberg has seen one of the strongest year-on-year increases, thanks to the pull of demand from the United States and Canada, according to trade flows data.

WINDOW SUMMARY

FORTIES

* Gunvor sold Petroineos a cargo of Forties for loading April 8-10 at a discount of 10 cents to dated Brent.

* Petroineos bid for a cargo loading April 6-11 at 10 cents below dated Brent.

* Unipec bid for a cargo loading April 9-12 at a discount of 5 cents to dated Brent.

* Glencore bid for a cargo loading April 10-20 at a discount of 10 cents to dated Brent.

* BP offered a cargo for loading via STS (Shanghai: 603322.SS - news) at Scapa Flow April 1-7 at a premium of 10 cents to dated Brent from the British Kestrel.

* Vitol withdrew an offer for one cargo for loading via STS at Scapa Flow April 5-10 at parity with dated Brent from the VLCC Trikwong Venture and withdrew a second offer for a cargo loading the same dates.

BRENT

* Statoil sold Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) a cargo for loading April 4-6 at a discount of 43 cents to the dated price.

* Glencore bid for a cargo loading April 10-12 at 40 cents below the dated benchmark price.

Glencore withdrew a bid for a cargo loading April 4-6 at 50 cents below the dated price.

EKOFISK

* Shell bid for a cargo loading April 5-10 at a discount of 15 cents to dated Brent.

* Glencore bid for a cargo loading April 5-10 at a discount of 10 cents to dated Brent.

* BP offered a cargo for loading via STS at Scapa Flow for loading April 1-7 at a premium of 25 cents to dated Brent from the aframax British Robin. (Reporting by Amanda Cooper; Editing by Susan Thomas)