Earlier this week, Statoil fixed the VLCC Atlantas to load 275,000 mt of crude from Mongstad for September 19-21 loading, sparking debate among North Sea traders over which crude grade might be leaving Northwest Europe for India.
Some sources think Statoil is loading Troll to head to RIL, while others think Urals or a mix of other North Sea grades more likely.
"It is the first time I have seen Statoil sending crude to Reliance," a source said, while another trader added that "Statoil has a very good network in Asia and material has gone to [South] Korea and other places before."
Some shipping sources said that RIL has bought crude from Statoil in the past but that it appears to be the first time they have seen such a movement this year.
The fixture has raised interest on how the economics for such a long voyage could work. RIL typically runs sweeter crude grades from Nigeria and Angola.
"I think it is quite noteworthy to see Reliance taking North Sea grades considering the complexity of their kit," a source said, adding that it is hard to see how it can make sense "with Brent/Dubai [spread] still relatively wide and a long journey time to Jamnagar."
The Brent/Dubai Cash spread was seen at $2.65/barrel on Thursday, down from highs of close to $4/b in early August at the height of North Sea field maintenance. But, excluding the August spike, when oil companies were heard carrying Persian Gulf barrels to NWE, the current spread is the highest since April.
Nonetheless, sources stressed that given relatively cheap freight at the moment, a movement of a VLCC from the North Sea to India is "certainly possible."
Statoil declined to comment while RIL was not immediately available for comment.
China Chemical Weekly: http://news.chemnet.com/img/articles/140/1409957_0.pdf
