Shell & Total Selling Stored Crude Oil from Tankers

Shell offered 600,000 barrels of Forties loading from the supertanker Australis at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands between July 31 and Aug. 7 at 10 cents above Dated Brent, the company said. It sold 600,000 barrels from the Australis to BP  at a discount of 55 cents.

Australis, a so-called Very Large Crude Carrier, can hold as many as 2 million barrels. It called at Hound Point, the Forties loading terminal, on April 16 and has been anchored at Southwold on England’s east coast since April 23. Shell also offered Forties from storage on the supertanker Maersk Noble, which has been anchored at Southwold since April 30. The company sought to sell 600,000 barrels loading between July 31 and Aug. 13 at 10 cents above Dated Brent, it said. Neither offer attracted a buyer.

Reported trades, bids and offers of North Sea oil typically occur during a “trading window” that ends daily at 4:30 p.m. London time. Prior to the trading window, a cargo of Forties loading in 10 to 21 days cost 45 cents less than Dated Brent. Also in the trading window, Total sought to sell an Aug. 3 to Aug. 5 shipment loading at Hound Point at 20 cents below Dated Brent, without finding a buyer, it said.

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