Urals and Caspian crude oil differentials ended the week steady, as price discussions were muted by public holidays in Russia and neighbouring countries throughout the week. Maintenance also continues at the CPC terminal.
Traders will be looking closely for developments regarding the marketing of Venezuelan oil, and whether it could displace Russian supplies to key buyer India.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal near the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk resumed crude loadings on Monday from SPM-1. SPM-3 is now expected to return from maintenance in mid-January, two sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
SPM-2 remains offline after a Ukrainian drone strike in late November. Talks on trading CPC Blend crude have stalled because of the loading delays, three traders told Reuters this week.
Loading issues could prompt some refiners to use substitute regional grades, one trader said. Azeri BTC crude could be too expensive to substitute for CPC, the trade source said.
Azeri BTC crude oil exports from the Turkish port of Ceyhan were set at around 519,000 barrels per day in February. This is down by around one per cent from January's scheduled total, according to a loading schedule seen by Reuters on Thursday.
No bids or offers were reported to Reuters from the Platts window on Friday for Urals, Azeri BTC and CPC Blend.
India's Reliance Industries is seeking approval from the US to resume purchases of Venezuelan crude, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. The private refiner looks to secure oil amid Western pressure on India to cut Russian oil purchases.
NIS, Serbia's Russian-owned oil company, said on Friday it had imported the first shipments of crude oil needed to restart the country's sole refinery. This follows the company securing a US sanctions waiver.
OPEC's oil output fell in December due to lower supply from Iran and Venezuela. This offset an OPEC+ agreement to raise production for the month, a survey found on Friday.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday the United States had released two Russian crew members from a Russian-flagged oil tanker seized on Wednesday in the Atlantic Ocean.
(Reporting by Robert Harvey; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
