Firm Indian demand boosts Urals differentials, Azeri BTC exports hold steady

Urals crude differentials to dated Brent firmed amid strong demand for the grade in India, traders said and Reuters calculations showed, while Azeri BTC oil loadings were set to remain steady for August, the schedule showed.

Urals oil cargoes for August arrival to Indian ports were estimated at discounts of $1.70-2 per barrel to dated Brent on DES (delivered ex ship) basis, up to 50 cents per barrel firmer than recent estimates, traders said.

Urals oil discount to Brent is some $7 per barrel on average if applied to European basis CIF Rotterdam for cargoes loading from Russian Baltic ports and CIF Augusta for cargoes loading from Novorossiisk, Reuters calculations showed. Urals oil is no longer traded at the European basis amid a EU ban on Russian oil imports.

Azeri BTC crude oil exports from Turkey's Ceyhan port have been set at 17.3 million barrels for August, little changed from 17.4 million barrels in the July plan, the schedule showed on Tuesday.

No bids or offers were made for Urals, CPC Blend or Azeri BTC in the Platts window on Tuesday.

Oil prices held near a two-week high on Tuesday as investors assessed the latest developments on US tariffs and a higher than expected increase to OPEC+ output for August.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)