North Sea Oil Market Sees Biggest Trading Frenzy in 16 Years

  • Eight cargoes sold in the region’s key pricing window Monday
  • Market faces uncertainty over OPEC+ plans and China’s demand

The processing, drilling and production platforms in the North Sea.

Photographer: Carina Johansen/Bloomberg
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The North Sea crude market just witnessed its largest trading frenzy in at least 16 years, adding to uncertainty over oil prices in the year ahead.

Eight cargoes — or about 5.6 million barrels of crude — changed hands Monday in a pricing window run by Platts, a unit of S&P Global Commodity Insights. That’s the most since 2008, when Bloomberg started compiling the data.