Markets

Med crude-Urals diffs up in Baltic on high demand

Published October 26, 2018 Updated October 26, 2018 09:39pm

* In the Platts window China's Unipec bid for 100,000 tonnes of Urals loading from Baltic ports on Nov. 7-11 at dated Brent minus $1.60 a barrel, but failed to find a seller, although the bid was 10 cents a barrel firmer than yesterday.

* Urals exports from Russian Baltic ports are set 11 percent lower for November compared to October, according to the preliminary loading plan.

* Nevertheless actual exports in November may be higher than in the preliminary loading plan, traders said, as refinery runs in Russia may decrease due to floods in Tuapse region.

* The pipeline which carries oil to the Rosneft Tuapse refinery on the Black Sea has been suspended after flooding on Oct. 25-26, Chernomortransneft, a unit of state pipeline monopoly Transneft said. Chernomortransneft said it was repairing the affected part of the Tikhoretsk-Tuapse-1 pipeline, without giving an estimated time when the works would be finished.

* Lower crude oil intake by the Rosneft refinery in Tuapse may result in additional crude oil exports in November, traders said.

* The final version of the loading plan for November is expected to be released on Monday.

TENDER

* Surgutneftegaz issued a spot tender on Friday to sell 100,000 tonnes of Urals loading from Ust-Luga port on Nov. 12-13 and 140,000 tonnes of Urals loading from Novorossiisk on Nov. 20-21, traders said. The tender closes on Oct. 29 at 1400 Moscow time (1100 GMT).

* Surgutneftegaz on Friday also awarded a tender to sell 1.2 million tonnes of Urals loading from Baltic ports in the first half of 2019, traders said, but the results were slow to emerge.

 

Copyright Reuters, 2018