UPDATE: ConocoPhillips To Ship VLCC Of Ekofisk Crude To Chile

A very large crude carrier loaded with North Sea Ekofisk crude will sail to Chile Wednesday, after spending three and a half months in use as floating storage in Scapa Flow, Scotland, Orkney Islands Council Department of Harbours said.

The Malaysian-registered vessel Bunga Kasturi Dua, carrying almost 2 million barrels of Ekofisk crude oil, anchored in Scapa Flow on Feb. 14, the council said in a statement on its Web site Wednesday.

The vessel was chartered by ConocoPhillips (COP) at a cost of $52,000 a day for two years of time charter, shipping brokers said.

"This leaves the Abqaiq and the Maersk Neptune still at anchor in Scapa Flow, storing between them just under 4 million barrels of Forties Crude," the council said.

Meanwhile, the VLCC Olympia is undergoing ship-to-ship transfer with the Aframax Primo Stealth in Scapa Flow, according to shipping information shown on the Web site. The council, however, didn't issue any statement on the transfer.

The Olympia was chartered by Total SA (TOT), while the Primo Stealth was likely booked by BP PLC (BP), traders said.

On May 14, Total sold one 600,000-barrel cargo of Forties to BP for June 2-4, STS transfer from the Olympia at a discount of 20 cents a barrel to Dated BFOE. On May 19, Total sold a similar cargo for June 4-6 transfer to BP at a discount of $1.05 to July BFOE, according to Dow Jones Newswires' records.

The second vessel, which is also supposed to undergo an STS transfer with the Olympia, has yet to emerge, traders said.

Web site: http://www.orkneyharbours.com

-By Sherry Su, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]