BP: N Sea Forties Crude To Become Heavier, Less Sweet In Aug

25th Jun 2010 15:27

LONDON (Dow Jones)--The North Sea Forties crude will become heavier and less sweet in early August, according to the latest data posted on the Web site of BP PLC, the operator of Forties Pipeline System. The sulfur content of Forties crude is expected to rise to 0.9%-1% in early August, and will mostly stay above 0.7% in the remainder of the month, it said. Meanwhile, API gravity of Forties will drop to 36-37 degrees in early August, and will stay below 40 degrees for the most of the month. Normally, Forties crude has a sulfur content of 0.56% and API gravity of 40.3 degrees, according to BP. The change in the quality of Forties is mainly due to planned maintenance in some oil fields which produce lighter and sweeter crude, traders said. There are over fifty oil fields making up Forties blend, with the 200,000-barrel-a-day Buzzard field the largest component field, operated by Canadian energy company Nexen Inc.(NXY). Crude oil produced from Buzzard is medium, sour crude, with the sulfur content of 1.44% and API gravity of 32.6%. Buzzard contribution rose to 37% of total Forties output in the week ended June 20, the highest since August 17, 2009, according to BP's data. But the ratio will increase further in the coming months, especially in August, with less contribution from lighter, sweeter crudes, traders said. -By Sherry Su, Dow Jones Newswires; +44(0)20-7842-9329; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 25, 2010 10:27 ET (14:27 GMT)