Med Crude: Urals swaps point lower, CPC bid higher

LONDON: Russia's Urals crude held firm in light physical trade on Thursday but swaps continued to point to a weakening of differentials in February, with a larger loading programme for that month applying pressure, especially in the Baltic.

No deals were done in the Platts price assessment window, leaving differentials around -$1.65 a barrel versus dated Brent in the Baltic for spot cargoes and -$1.30 in the Mediterranean.

Swaps in the Baltic for February are around -$2.05, only slightly firmer than Wednesday, while they strengthened by about 15 cents in the Mediterranean to around -$1.45 for the balance of the month, though still below spot values.

For a list of primary allocations of seaborne cargoes in February click Differentials have taken some support from stronger refining margins, with the average refiner cracking Urals in the Mediterranean standing to make around $7.10 a barrel, according to Reuters models, well above the $2.34 they have averaged over the past year.

Data from industry monitor Euroilstock showed that European refinery crude processing declined slightly from November, but was up 6.6 percent year-on-year, as refiners took advantage of cheap crude feedstock last year.

Lighter grades in the Mediterranean have also found some support due to lower supplies from Libya.

On Thursday, PetroIneos upped its bid for a cargo of Kazakhstan's CPC blend for mid-February loading to -$0.25 below dated Brent, about 35 cents stronger than its bid in the previous session.

BP and Total also bid for CPC blend in the first half of February, though at slightly lower levels.

In Libya, a parliament set up to rival the elected assembly has suspended UN-sponsored peace talks because of what it called fresh violence from the country's recognised government, a spokesman said late on Wednesday.

Last week, the United Nations launched a new round of talks in Geneva aimed at defusing the oil producer's violent struggle between two governments and parliaments vying for control four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi.

Both sides, which are allied to armed factions, have been fighting over territory and oil ports and have sought to take charge of the central bank to control vital oil revenues.