January 23, 2012 [Bloomberg] - Norway’s Statoil ASA chartered a supertanker to transport crude from the North Sea to Asia, increasing planned European oil shipments to the region to 6 million barrels over the next four weeks.
Statoil booked the DHT Eagle to load at Hound Point, the terminal for Forties-blend crude, on Feb. 12, according to reports from three shipbrokers, including Optima Shipbrokers Ltd. The tanker is a very large crude carrier, which is able to transport more than 2 million barrels of oil.
DHT Eagle is the second VLCC Statoil has planned in the last three weeks to send from Europe to Asia. The company scheduled the VLCC Front Champion to load at its Mongstad terminal on Jan. 21 and then go to South Korea, Optima data showed on Dec. 30.
Statoil leases crude storage tanks in South Korea from Korea National Oil Corp. Vitol Group fixed the tanker Great Lady from Hound Point, the loading point for Forties crude, to Asia, according to a Jan. 4 report from Optima Shipbrokers Ltd.
Oil from the North Sea is being sent east as prices between the two regions have narrowed, making it economical to ship supplies from Europe and West Africa.
The European benchmark premium to Mideast crude has shrunk 41 percent since Jan. 3. The exchange for swaps, which measures the North Sea’s Brent grade versus Dubai oil, was the lowest in more than a year on Jan. 13 at $2.41 a barrel, according to data from PVM Oil Associates Ltd., a broker. The EFS was assessed at $2.90 today, PVM data show.
