* Total of 11 May Forties cargoes advanced * Oseberg offered as sweet crudes struggle to find buyers * Tighter May Urals programme may support LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - North Sea Forties crude pricedifferentials held steady on Friday at around dated Brent minus40 cents, with no bids or offers in the price assessment window. Two more May Forties cargoes had their loading dates broughtforward, making 11 advancements in total, traders said. Parcel F0522, which was BP equity, advanced to May 21-23from May 28-30, and F0508 moved up to May 6-8 from May 8-10. Thecargo was originally allocated to Nexen. Traders were sceptical that three weeks of maintenanceaffecting output from the Ekofisk fields in June would help balance the market in the short termas supplies of Forties are abundant due to good output from thekey Buzzard oilfield. "I think Forties will outweigh," one market participantsaid. "Forties production is very strong at the moment, Buzzardis going great guns." Other traders noted that although futures spreads had tradedhigher after fund investors piled in, the physical cargo marketremained in the doldrums. "It is difficult to say who will winhere," one trader said. "The market is a bit disconnected," another trader said.Brent timespreads are backwardated with the front month tradingat a 21 cent premium to the second month . However,the swaps curve remains in contango. "Physical oil is not moving," the trader said. "There arestill some Ekofisk cargoes available." There was no activity around Forties in the Platts window,traders said, but Statoil was back offering its May 17-19 cargoof Oseberg at dated Brent plus $1.10. This was unchanged fromits last offer for the same cargo on Thursday. Oseberg rarely features in the Platts window and itsappearance for a second day running suggests that refinerscurrently have little appetite for sweet crudes. Instead, sour crudes are being supported by improved fueloil refining margins, and one trader suggested Forties, which ismore sulphurous than Oseberg, may derive some support from atighter May Urals programme. SWAPS * The swaps curve was not available as of 1554 GMT. Pleasecheck page for later updates. DATABASE
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