The amount of crude oil to be pumped from fields in the North Sea in January will be lower than in December, according to loading programs for the four key grades. The biggest fall will be in the Brent grade, where only five cargoes of crude will be loaded, compared with seven scheduled to load in December. Loading programs are released and circulated among oil traders and brokers, but don’t give a perfect indication of oil volumes because they can be subject to change. The total month-on-month fall will be 3.9%, according to the programs. These changes are often seasonal, and can alter dramatically if one of the four key fields — Brent, Forties, Oseberg and Ekofisk — have scheduled maintenance work or need to be shut in for emergency reasons. Overall, however, production in the North Sea is in decline. To date, 41 billion barrels […]