LONDON: Russian Urals crude saw a flurry of offers on Monday after almost a week of lull and traders said there were signs the grade was recovering from very weak levels due to revived demand from refiners.
"We see a slight strengthening despite a rally in the flat price. Some refiners come out of maintenances and that is supporting the grade," one trader with a major said.
In the Platts window, Gunvor sold a cargo to Shell in Europe's northwest for April 14-18 delivery at minus 3.75 to dated Brent, while Shell sold a cargo to Lukoil for April 18-22 delivery at minus $3.80, traders said.
On Friday, a deal in northwest Europe was done at minus $3.90. In the Mediterranean, ENI bid for a 80,000-tonne cargo at minus $3.20, some 60 cents stronger than on Friday, and larger Suezmax cargoes were offered at minus $3.30.
In tender news, Surgut offered an April 21-25 cargo from north-west Europe with results due on Tuesday.
In Greece, a court allowed workers at Hellenic Petroleum, the country's biggest refiner and a regular buyer of Urals, to continue a 10-day strike with the shutdowns expected to take seven days to complete.
Complex margins were around $1.42 on one barrels of Urals. The average over past 2 weeks was $1.86, Reuters' model showed.
Reuters' margin model is a rough indicator of refining margins and it does not reflect profit levels of individual refineries.
ICE Brent crude futures rose to 2-1/2-year highs on Monday pushing above $120 a barrel on geopolitical risks to supply along with expectations of growing demand after last week's supportive US economic data.
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