Maersk cancels Qatar crude cargo

Danish shipping and oil company AP Moller-Maersk has cancelled a cargo of Qatar Al Shaheen crude due to a shutdown for work to expand the oilfield, a senior executive said on Thursday.

"Right now major installation work is being carried out and this means that we, as planned, have shutdowns," Jep Brink, Managing Director of Maersk Oil in Qatar, told Reuters in an emailed statement.

"Some of the installation work has taken longer than we expected and therefore we have, in agreement with Qatar Petroleum, cancelled a cargo shipment of oil."

He gave no details of the size of the cargo nor the loading dates. Standard Shaheen cargoes are 600,000 barrels.

Earlier this month Qatar Petroleum offered only two cargoes in a monthly tender for November loading, the lowest volume it has offered for six months. Traders said the lower volume on offer was due to production problems.