MOSCOW: Urals crude differentials were steady in the northwest Europe on Monday, supported by strong demand for the grade due to lower freight rates that opened up the potential for arbitrage shipments to Mediterranean.
At least seven vessels of 100,000 tonnes each for loading from the Baltic Sea ports late in July to early in August have been booked over the last three days with a Mediterranean delivery option, Thomson Reuters data showed.
In the Platts window, Vitol was offering 100,000 tonnes of Urals for loading from Primorsk or Ust-Luga on Aug. 15-19 at dated Brent minus $1.95 a barrel, but no buyer emerged. There were no bids and offers for Urals in the Mediterranean.
The spread between prices for 80,000 and 140,000 tonne cargoes for loading from Novorossiisk narrowed amid limited supply from Novorossiisk in August, traders said. Russia is planning to overhaul its oil industry tax, introducing a profit-based system designed to boost government revenue and lift output from 2018, according to documents seen by Reuters and industry sources.
Low oil prices and western sanctions have left holes in the state budget. Under the new scheme, the budget may still lose up to 50 billion roubles ($763.92 million) if it is introduced under an oil price of $50 per barrel. But the losses could be eliminated if production increases by a third.
In lighter grades, Glencore offered in the Platts window 85,000 tonnes of CPC Blend on Aug. 9-13 at dated Brent plus $0.20 a barrel, down by 13 cents a barrel from Friday, but failed to sell a cargo. On the buy side, OMV was bidding for 85,000 tonnes of CPC Blend on Aug. 10-14 up to a premium of $0.25 a barrel to dated Brent.
There was no activity in Azeri light in the Platts window on Monday.
Libyan Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) commander Ibrahim Jathran said on Monday he was ready to end a blockade at key oil terminals, but the UN-backed government still needs to sign an agreement for exports to resume.
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