Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter The North Sea sweet, low-sulfur spot is on fire. Dated Brent, which prices physical cargoes of North Sea crude with a loading date, showed a rare premium of more than $5 per barrel to the front-month Brent futures contract mid-February. The first-week Brent CFD swap — the weekly difference between dated and the forward Brent price — broke through $4/bbl, an even rarer event. Dated Brent is the benchmark for some 60% of all spot traded crude and the pricing anomaly is felt around the globe. Several forces have come together to push up the prompt sweet crude price.
