SINGAPORE/LONDON - The volume of North Sea Forties crude fixed to head to Asia may hit a three-month high in October, underpinned by strong demand from a Chinese buyer, traders said on Wednesday. Unipec, the trading arm of Asia’s largest refiner Sinopec, has bought 6 million barrels of Forties crude loading this month, they said, supporting the grade which makes up the bulk of the North Sea crude oil stream that prices the global Brent benchmark. Another 2 million barrels may make its way to South Korea in the same month, traders said. A narrower Brent-Dubai price spread for October <DUB-EFS-1M> may have spurred Unipec to buy more crude priced off the global benchmark, a trader said. The October volume would be the highest since four Very Large Crude Carriers were fixed in July, of which less than four actually sailed. Supertankers Maran Thaleia and Al Salmi have been provisionally booked to load Forties at Hound Point to Asia this month while a third tanker Caesar may also embark on this voyage, trade sources and shipping data on Reuters Eikon showed. North Sea crude oil output tracked by Reuters will rise to its highest in just over two years in October, according to loading schedules, adding to ample Atlantic Basin crude supplies.