North Sea Crude-Forties steady, tighter supply supports
LONDON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - * Forties price differentials steadied on Tuesday, remaining at a premium to benchmark dated Brent as tighter supplies lent support.
* Three September-loading Forties cargoes have been dropped, according to trade sources, and several others have had their loading dates delayed because of lower than expected supply.
* The Buzzard oilfield will begin a month-long maintenance shutdown on Sept. 17 as planned, an industry source said, further reducing Forties output.
* A VLCC, Hakata, has sailed to China with a cargo of Forties, the first such shipment this month, according to shipping data. Another could follow as another VLCC, Baltic Sunrise (Shenzhen: 300360.SZ - news) , is anchored off Hound Point.
WINDOW SUMMARY
* Forties: Vitol sold to Glencore (Frankfurt: 8GC.F - news) a Forties cargo loading on Sept. 29-Oct (HKSE: 3366-OL.HK - news) . 1 at dated Brent plus 15 cents. That is down 10 cents from a bid on Monday.
Petroineos bid an Oct. 1-8 cargo to dated Brent plus 35 cents, valuing Forties on average at dated plus 28 cents, steady from Monday.
* Brent: Glencore bid at dated Brent plus 25 cents for a Sept. 24-26 cargo, in line with a trade on Monday.
* Ekofisk: BP bid for an Oct. 5-8 cargo at dated Brent plus 50 cents, 10 cents higher than a trade on Monday. That is equal to dated Brent plus 18 cents when allowing for the quality premium for October Ekofisk cargoes of 32 cents.
* Ekofisk is still the cheapest benchmark grade based on Tuesday's indications and sets dated Brent.
(Reporting by Alex Lawler; editing by William Hardy)