North Sea Crude-Forties rises on firm demand, Brent delays

* Forties trades at dated Brent plus 65 cents * All Brent December cargoes now delayed * Buchan Alpha platform closed as storm brews * Ekofisk Chilean fixture for December spotted LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - North Sea Forties crude oil tradedhigher on Wednesday as demand remained firm whilst supplycontinued to tighten across the region with further delays toBrent loadings. Traders said that all seven Brent cargoes for December hadnow been pushed off their original loading dates, followingproduction issues. "We are hearing field problems," one said. The last cargo in the schedule - parcel B1207 - will nowload on Jan. 4-6, a second trader said. Taqa, which operates the Brent pipeline system,and some of the fields feeding into Brent, said it could notcomment on daily production fluctuations or any changes topartner production resulting in lower flows through the Brentpipeline. Talisman Sinopec has closed its Buchan Alpha platform in theBritish North Sea ahead of an approaching storm. The floatingplatform contributes fewer than 5,000 barrels of oil per day tothe Forties crude stream. The removal of personnel follows similar moves by BP and Conoco in the Norwegian sector on Tuesday. Buzzard, the biggest contributor to the Fortiesstream, is still unaffected, traders said. Buzzard accounted for 48 percent of Forties output in theweek Nov. 25-Dec. 1, down from 49 percent the week before,according to the latest update on the Forties Pipeline Systemwebsite. Demand to ship North Sea crudes out of northwest Europeremains steady. Trafigura is looking to move 130,000 tonnes ofEkofisk from Teesport to Chile around Dec. 10 on the Majestic,shipping fixtures showed on Wednesday. Also, Repsol has fixed another Forties shipment from HoundPoint to northern Spain for Dec. 9 with the 80,000 tonne Alatau. Mediterranean refiners have been steady buyers of North Seacrudes over the past month as Libyan crude supplies have becomeunreliable. Libya said it expected to reopen all its oil ports on Dec.10 and resume full production about a week after that buttraders and analysts are sceptical this will be achieved. FORTIES * Vitol sold a Forties cargo loading on Dec. 25-27 toTrafigura at dated Brent plus 65 cents. This was up fromTuesday's trade at dated Brent plus 60 cents for Dec. 16-18Forties. * Hetco offered its Dec. 23-25 Forties cargo at dated Brentplus 55 cents, down from its last offer on Tuesday for the samecargo at dated Brent plus 70 cents. EKOFISK * ENI offered its Dec. 23-25 Ekofisk cargo at dated Brentplus $1.50, down from its last offer for the same cargo onTuesday at dated Brent plus $1.55. * The quality premium for December-loading Ekofisk cargoesis 68 cents. SWAPS * Click on for the latest contracts-for-difference. DATABASE