LONDON: The Buzzard oil field suffered another production glitch on Saturday, a trade source said, frustrating traders and prompting one to say the frequent disruptions to the flow of crude that sets the Brent benchmark were “worse than Nigeria”.
Buzzard is the largest of the fields that contribute to the Forties crude blend, the most important of the North Sea crudes underpinning the Brent crude benchmark. It had restarted on November 3 after an extended, two-month shutdown. “It was back up to full output but tripped on Saturday. There was a further trip on Sunday, and production is still shut down,” said the source, who added the field was expected to begin restarting later yesterday.
A series of delays in the field’s restart has disrupted shipments of Forties crude, leading to an increase in the premium in the price of Brent oil for immediate delivery. The premium widened further yesterday.
The field’s operator, Canadian oil company Nexen, could not immediately be reached for comment yesterday.
Buzzard shut on September 4 for planned maintenance that traders initially expected to take 28 days but which was pushed back during October.
The latest disruption, which may further delay shipments of Forties crude loading in November, frustrated traders in the North Sea market.
“It is literally unbelievable,” said one. “It is easy to say from the sidelines, but still, this is worse than Nigeria.” Output in Nigeria, Africa’s top exporter, is often disrupted and has been curbed by oil theft and flooding in recent weeks.
Reuters
