Urals crude differentials to dated Brent firmed slightly on Friday following the rise of prices for the grade in Indian ports, while CPC Blend oil loadings from Black Sea Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka were set unchanged from September plan in October, sources said.
The discount on October-loading Urals crude has narrowed to $2–$2.50 per barrel against dated Brent from $3 in September amid worries of lower supplies of the grade and good demand in India, traders said.
Freight rates to ship Urals from Russia's Baltic ports to India rose to $6.5–$7 million per voyage in October from $5.5–$6 million in September, traders said. The rise in transport costs offsets the grade's firmer prices for its sellers.
Exports of CPC Blend crude oil from the Black Sea have been set at 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in October, the same as in September, three trade sources told Reuters on Friday.
No bids or offers were made for Urals, Azeri BTC or CPC Blend in the Platts window on Friday.
Iraq, OPEC's second-largest producer, has given preliminary approval to a plan to resume pipeline oil exports from its semi-autonomous Kurdistan region through Turkey following delays to a hoped-for restart, sources familiar with the talks told Reuters.
(Reporting by Reuters)
