A month of planned maintenance has started at the North Sea loading terminal for Forties crude, which helps set the Brent benchmark, an industry source said on Thursday, preventing VLCC loadings.
Hound Point's Jetty 1 is the key loading berth for very large crude carriers (VLCCs), so the closure makes moving Forties to far-flung destinations like Asia more difficult and has weighed on the price of Forties.
The facility's operator, BP, said in March Jetty 1 would close for maintenance from May 6 to June 8 . BP could not immediately be reached on Thursday.
In 2014, spring maintenance at Jetty 1 lasted for about six weeks, during which time Forties differentials slumped to multi-year lows.
(Reporting by Alex Lawler, editing by David Evans)