MOSCOW: Urals crude oil price differentials were stable on Wednesday, while Azeri light was offered lower amid weak refinery margins and ample supply, as unplaced cargoes for loading in August have put the grade under pressure, traders said. Socar was offering in the Platts window 600,000 barrels of Azeri light on August 27-31 at a premium of $2.00 a barrel to dated Brent, but found no buyer.
That was down by some 25 cents a barrel from the latest levels for the grade. "Margins are not recovering, there's no arbitrage, and low freight rates don't help," one trader said. In the Baltic Vitol offered in the Platts window 100,000 tonnes of Urals on August 31-September 4 at dated Brent minus $1.90 a barrel before withdrawing, traders said. "Vitol was offering a cargo in anticipation of weaker Urals differentials (later in August)," one source said.
Traders believe Russia may up Urals seaborne exports in September due to lower runs at domestic plants and along the "Druzhba" pipeline as the maintenance season approaches. There were no bids and offers for CPC Blend and Siberian light and Urals in the Mediterranean on Wednesday.
The CPC Blend preliminary loading plan for September will emerge by the end of the week, traders said.
They expect to see higher CPC Blend exports after a sharp decline in August.
CPC Blend crude oil exports from the Black Sea terminal of Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka in August are set at 2.494 million tonnes, down from 3.798 million tonnes in July final schedule.
Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia boosted its oil output to a record high in July, it told OPEC, in a sign key members remain focused on market share rather than tackling a supply glut by curbing production.
Western countries including the United States, France and Britain said in a joint statement on Wednesday they were concerned by mounting tension around the Zueitina oil terminal in Libya.
A well that pumps 2,500 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from the Kirkuk fields in northern Iraq was blown up on Wednesday, setting some production facilities on fire, an official at the state-run North Oil Company said.
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