Dated Brent has fallen to a nine-week low, with uncommitted November Brent and Forties cargoes weighing on values amid weak local refinery uptake of the grade, sources said.
Dated Brent fell to Forward Dated Brent minus 51 cents/b Monday, and was last lower on September 1 at minus 53 cents/b, Platts data showed.
Value for November loading Brent and Forties that remain uncommitted to end-users have plummeted amid competition from alternative crudes and receding European refinery margins.
In the Platts Market on Close assessment process Monday, Vitol offered a November 12-14 Forties cargo previously believed to be part of a VLCC co-load bound for Asia to Dated Brent minus $1/b, without finding a buyer.
"[They] probably do not have anything else to do with that cargo. [I guess] they tried [to arrange a co-load with that cargo] and did not succeed," a trader said.
The trading house also offered a Brent Blend cargo loading November 20-22 to Dated Brent minus 45 cents/b in the Platts MOC, without finding a buyer.
"I guess there are some prompt Forties and Brent cargoes to be placed. Most refiners are covered for November," a second trader said.
A heavy Baltic loading schedule for Urals has seen the grade hover around a 16-month low on a delivered Rotterdam basis, assessed at Dated Brent minus $3.15/b Monday, while flows of the grade from the Baltic to the Mediterranean -- where a tighter Novorossiisk loading program has reduced availability -- had recently seen Mediterranean Urals at Dated Brent minus $2.195/b on a delivered Augusta basis, which was its lowest since December 24.
"There are a lot of grades performing poorly, Urals in the North and the Med," the first trader said.
While Forties had been insulated from Urals' weakness in recent weeks on the back of a workable arbitrage to Asia, cargoes which are not loading onto VLCCs for Asian homes are being offered much more cheaply, to entice buyers.
The Forties NWE cracking margin was $3.155/b, against a $5.755/b margin on Urals on Monday, Platts data showed.
