<article><p>Loadings of the North Sea's key benchmark crude grades are set to reach a four-year high in January, according to the region's latest loading programmes.</p><p>Loadings of Brent, Forties, Oseberg and Ekofisk — the four grades that underpin the North Sea Dated benchmark — will average 1.01mn b/d in January, according to the month's loading programmes, up from the 987,000 b/d scheduled for the current month. January's scheduled loadings are also 11pc higher than the average for 2015.</p><p>A strong rise in Brent and Forties loadings is expected to offset slower loadings of Ekofisk. Just 14 cargoes of Ekofisk crude will load in January at a rate of 277,000 b/d, down by 10pc from December's plan. January's Ekofisk programme would have been lower still, but was boosted by a deferred cargo from the December programme. </p><p>January's Brent programme was also boosted by a deferral from December. Seven cargoes of Brent crude will now load in January at 135,000 b/d, up from a revised 116,000 b/d in December. January's Brent programme is the longest in more than a year and is 29pc higher than the 2015 average.</p><p>Loadings of Forties crude are set to reach almost 484,000 b/d. If all of the cargoes do load and none are either dropped or deferred into the following month — as often happens — January will be the strongest month for Forties loadings since February 2011. The 25 cargoes scheduled for January will be 9pc higher than December and 17pc above the 2015 average.</p><p>Loadings of the region's non-benchmark grades are also expected to be high. Loadings of Gullfaks crude in January are expected to rise by 28pc from December's level to 234,000 b/d. And more than 135,000 b/d of Grane crude is scheduled to load, up by 17pc from December and 37pc above the 2015 average. Grane loadings will benefit from the inclusion of crude from the Edvard Grieg field, which feeds into Grane. Production from the field is expected to reach 100,000 b/d of oil equivalent in mid-2016.</p><p>The increases will offset a slight drop in Statfjord loadings to 155,000 b/d. Loadings of Aasgard and Alvheim will be little changed at 110,000 b/d and 75,000 b/d respectively. </p><div id="article-footer"><p><br> Send comments to <a href="mailto:feedback@argusmedia.com" target="_parent"> feedback@argusmedia.com </a></p><p><u><a href="http://www.argusmedia.com/Info/General/News" target="_TOP"> Request more information </a></u> about Argus' energy and commodity news, data and analysis services. </p><p><i> Copyright © 2015 Argus Media Ltd - <a href="http://www.argusmedia.com/" target="_TOP"> www.argusmedia.com </a> - All rights reserved. </i></p></div></article>
