LONDON: Russian Urals were steady in the north but softened in the south on Friday following the release of the full Urals programme, which was tighter than last month, but weak margins counter-balanced the smaller supply in the Mediterranean.
There was no activity in the Platts window but traders pegged the northwest Europe Urals market at around dated Brent minus $1.30 cif Rotterdam following deals earlier this week, which were much stronger than the last window deal as traders had anticipated a shorter programme.
The Urals market in the Mediterranean was still under pressure despite a smaller February programme, traders said, as poor margins out-weighed the supply situation for now.
The market was pegged at around dated Brent minus $1.05-$1.10 cif Augusta. "It's looking a bit weak at the moment, but I expect some rebound," one trader said.
Primorsk loadings were set at 3.406 million tonnes in February, down from 3.7 million in January. Exports from the smaller Baltic port of Ust Luga were set at 1.716 million tonnes down from 1.8 million in January.
Black Sea loadings from Novorossiisk have been set at 2.415 million tonnes, down from 2.922 million in January.
Exports of Iraqi Basra Light have been set at 2.225 million barrels per day (bpd) in February, with loadings smaller than the January programme taking into account the shorter month.
As for sweet grades, Azeri Light was a touch firmer at dated Brent plus $3.80 cif Augusta, traders said, when Eni bought a cargo on Thursday but there was no fresh news on Friday.
Tunisia's Etap closed a sell tender for 80,000 tonnes of light sweet Algerian Zarzaitine loading Feb. 1-4 with results expected on Monday.
This is the second Zarzaitine tender for February with the previous having been awarded to Shell at around dated Brent plus $1.80 fob La Skhirra.
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