No cargoes of North Sea Brent crude oil are scheduled to load in August as production steadily declines, traders told Reuters on Tuesday, marking a milestone for the global Dated Brent oil benchmark, which prices over 60% of the world’s oil.
Brent crude from the North Sea lends its name to the global Dated Brent benchmark, used for pricing physical cargoes and underpinning Brent crude futures and other derivative contracts. Over time, S&P Global Energy, known as Platts, which manages the benchmark, has added other crudes to boost liquidity.
August is the first month in which no Brent cargo is initially scheduled to be shipped, according to a loading plan seen by Reuters and LSEG data going back to 2007. There have been months where no new Brent cargoes were set to load, as occasionally cargoes are delayed into the next month.
“What is left of Brent is just a brand name of the most important crude oil contract in the world,” said Adi Imsirovic, a Brent expert and veteran oil trader. “At some stage, Brent crude will disappear, but the contract is likely to remain for many years to come.”
Now, Brent is one of five North Sea grades
