OREANDA-NEWS. The supply of North Sea crude that underpins the Brent benchmark will average 960,000 barrels per day (bpd) in April, according to loading programmes, up from a revised 948,000 bpd in March.

Brent is based on four crude streams: Brent itself, Forties, Oseberg and Ekofisk (BFOE). March's Oseberg and Ekofisk loadings have been boosted by the addition of one cargo apiece from February.

Brent, the last of the four April BFOE cargoes to be issued, will load 120,000 bpd, trade sources said on Friday.

The Brent schedule shows that the first cargo will load on April 7, which may partly account for the later issuance of the programme in comparison with Forties and Ekofisk, which came out on Monday.