The Brent market remains in contango, indicating ample crude supply in the Atlantic basin, and refinery buying in northwest Europe remains muted despite strong margins.
According to Reuters models, the Brent cracking margin in Rotterdam stands at more than $7 a barrel, almost double the average over the past year.
The status of the Buzzard oilfield, the largest contributor to the Forties stream, was unclear.
Field operator Nexen did not comment on Wednesday after trade sources said it had experienced another outage early Tuesday as it struggled to return from seasonal maintenance.
FORTIES
Vitol sold to Shell its cargo loading on Sept. 27-29 at dated Brent minus 70 cents, down 20 cents from Tuesday's offer.
Total bid for Forties loading on Oct. 7-9 at dated Brent minus 5 cents, up 10 cents from its bid on Tuesday.