Maintenance work will lead to higher crude oil production cuts from the North Sea this summer than the average for the last six years, the International Energy Agency has said.
Planned maintenance on oil fields in the North Sea will lead a drop in supplies of 330,000 barrels per day until the end of September, down around 70,000 per day on average.
The drop will coincide with a larger than normal demand on crude supplies, with American demand increasing over the summer for fuelling vehicles and in the Middle East for air conditioning.
The warning comes in the IEA’s monthly report for June, which said maintenance would cut crude production in the Brent, Forties, Oseberg and Ekofisk fields.
“In sum, maintenance in 2013 could be quite severe and will impact the BFOE blends as entire oil and gas pipeline systems, gas processing plants, terminals and oil fields enter turnaround mode,” the agency said.
It added that “Crude supply would struggle to keep up with refining demand until price effects rebalance the market”, with increased refining in China and new Saudi Arabian refineries coming online to put pressure on prices.
Recommended for you
