储存于北海的过剩石油因需求攀升而下降三分之一

据世界石油6月10日伦敦彭博社报道，数周以来积压在北海远洋油轮上的基准石油供应开始减少。

自疫情导致需求崩溃以来，该地区有数百万桶过剩原油被储存在油轮上。但根据彭博社汇编的数据显示，如今这一数量正开始大幅减少。从英国，法国和荷兰到处都有船只停泊，到5月底，浮船储量达到1200万桶。 这个数字现在下降了35％。

该地区浮式储存量的下降是很重要的，因为所涉及的原油等级有助于形成即期布伦特基准，该基准用于解决生产商和炼油厂之间数百万桶的实际石油交易。包括沙特和俄罗斯在内的一些国家正在引领全球限制石油产量，并削减向欧洲西北部的石油供应。这推高了油价，消除了交易员所谓的“超级远期溢价”(super-contango)，这种溢价曾使储存原油变得非常有利可图。

法国巴黎银行石油策略师Harry Tchillinguirian表示，建立浮式储备的动力已经大大减弱。在我们看到需求复苏的地方，这些库存的持有者很可能会留意投机性销售。

尽管基准等级的浮动库存原油减少使生产商对削减效果感到乐观，但要消除全球市场的过剩仍有许多工作要做。

根据Genscape Inc.的数据显示，欧洲主要存储中心阿姆斯特丹，鹿特丹和安特卫普的陆上库存上周跃升至两年来的最高水平。其中包括来自世界各地的非基准等级。

根据数据分析公司Vortexa Ltd.的数据显示，上周全球海上原油储量为1.8亿桶。这至少是自2016年以来的最高水平。

但是北海的迹象更加乐观。 随着浮式储存原油开始下降，该地区的现货原油价格猛涨。布伦特原油在本周初创下了三个月来的最高水平。

亚洲炼油商也正在提高其加工能力，有可能进一步消耗北海石油。 其中三艘浮式油轮位于英国和丹麦的船到船转运站，在那里通常会装载在更大的油轮航行至亚洲，而另外四艘已经转运到超级油轮上。

Onyx Commodities首席执行官格雷格纽曼(Greg Newman)表示，浮动存储正在被释放和消耗。我们一直处于稳步上升的轨道，货物也开始向亚洲转移。

郝芬 译自 世界石油

原文如下：

Global surplus of North Sea oil drops by a third on climbing demand

A glut of benchmark North Sea oil that’s been sitting on ocean-going tankers for weeks is starting to diminish.

Millions of barrels of the region’s unwanted crude have been stashed on oil tankers since the coronavirus caused a demand collapse. But now the volumes are starting to shrink sharply, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Anchored on vessels everywhere from the U.K., to France and the Netherlands, the floating hoard reached 12 million barrels at the end of May. That figure has now dropped by 35%.

The decline in the region’s floating storage is important because the grades in question help shape the Dated Brent benchmark that’s used to settle millions of barrels of physical oil transactions between producers and refineries. Nations including Saudi Arabia and Russia are leading a global push to limit output and have cut deliveries into northwest Europe. That’s lifted oil prices and eliminated what traders call a super-contango that had made it highly lucrative to store.

“The incentives to build floating storage have greatly diminished,” said Harry Tchillinguirian, oil strategist at BNP Paribas SA. “The holders of the storage are probably keeping an eye out for opportunistic sales where we see pockets of demand recovery.”

While a diminishing floating stockpile of benchmark grades offers producers cause to be optimistic that their cuts are effective, there’s still a lot of work to be done to eliminate a surplus in the global market.

On-land stockpiles in Europe’s key storage hub of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp, known as ARA, jumped to their highest level in two years last week, according to Genscape Inc. That includes non-benchmark grades from all over the world.

Similarly, there were also 180 million barrels of crude stored at sea worldwide last week, according to data from Vortexa Ltd., a data analytics firm. That’s the highest since at least 2016.

But the signs from the North Sea are more bullish. As the floating storage has started to clear, the price of physical crude in the region has jumped. Brent, one of the five grades that makes up the Dated Brent benchmark, changed hands at its strongest level in three months earlier this week.

Asian refiners are ramping up their processing too, potentially draining the North Sea oil further. Three of the floating cargoes are at ship-to-ship transfer sites in the U.K. and Denmark, where they would normally load onto a larger ship to sail to Asia, while four others have already transferred onto supertankers.

“Floating storage is being released and being absorbed,” said Greg Newman, CEO of Onyx Commodities. “We’ve been in a steady upward trajectory and cargoes are starting to move to Asia too.”