MOSCOW: Urals differentials in the Mediterranean weakened on Thursday along with those in northwest Europe on expected higher supplies in September compared to August.
In the Platts window Litasco offered 80,000 tonnes of Urals loading on Aug. 28-Sept. 1 down to a discount of $1.85 a barrel to BFOE. The offer was 10 cents lower than recent estimates.
Traders said demand for the Russian grade in the region was sluggish due to the wide availability of alternatives and active Urals arbitrage from Baltic ports due to cheap freight rates.
Traders expect the Urals loading plan for the first 10 days of September to be released on Friday. Currently only Urals loading dates for Sept. 1-7 are available.
On Thursday Surgutneftegaz awarded a tender to sell 500,000 tonnes of Urals loading from Primorsk and Ust-Luga in early September at discounts of $2.20-2.30 a barrel to BFOE to Litasco, Shell and Total.
Surgutneftegaz's result was 5 cents firmer than Vitol's offer of the cargo loading on Aug. 31-Sept. 4 in the Platts window on Wednesday. The offer attracted no buyers, but traders said Surgutneftegaz normally sells Urals in tenders at prices slightly higher than the market.
On Thursday Vitol offered the same cargo down to a discount of $2.05 a barrel to BFOE, but also failed to attract buyers.
Traders generally assessed Urals in northwest Europe around a discount of $2.30 a barrel to BFOE and saw the possibility for the grade to get even cheaper.
On Thursday PKN Orlen closed a tender to buy 100,000 tonnes of Urals loading from Baltic ports on Aug. 31-Sept. 4, but results were slow to emerge.
Prices for CPC Blend fell to the lowest level in nearly two months due to poor refining margins in the region.
In the Platts window Glencore offered 85,000 tonnes of CPC Blend loading on Aug. 29-Sept. 2 down to a discount $0.40 a barrel to BFOE, which was 25 cents cheaper than Shell offered yesterday, but there was no interest.
There were no bids or offers for Azeri light in the Platts window on Thursday, but the grade's price was also under pressure due to poor light distillates margins.
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