Urals crude was bid higher for loading at the end of July on Wednesday while two sellers offered earlier-loading cargoes at lower levels. Also on Wednesday, Saudi Arabia raised its official selling prices for crude in Europe in August, potentially lending support to differentials for Urals.
On Urals, Total bid up to dated minus $2.75 for 80,000 tonnes loading July 24-28 and Arcadia bid the same date range at dated minus $2.95, traders said. Vitol offered July 15-19 Black Sea barrels down to dated minus $3.25 while Glencore was looking to move a July 14-18 shipment from Novorossiisk or Yuzhny at dated minus $3.00.
The difference reflects the backwardation in the structure of dated Brent, which means a buyer of a cargo loading further in the future can afford a higher differential, traders said. Other market sources said the bids indicated better demand for end-month cargoes.
Elsewhere, traders were awaiting the result of Iraq's first tender in months to sell rival Kirkuk crude. The result of the sale of 3 million barrels is now expected on Thursday.
Once again there was no public bid or offer in the window for Urals in northern Europe, where a cargo was last heard done at dated minus $3.00. Refining margins for refiners cracking Urals in the Mediterranean are below the average of the past year. The profit, or crack, in the Mediterranean stood at $4.87 a barrel compared with the average in the past year of $5.52.
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