Med Crude-Urals Stronger in Baltic as Surgut Sells Cargoes
Russian Urals crude price differentials strengthened in the Baltic in a spot tender on Tuesday after loading schedules confirmed scarce export volumes for May. There was no deals in the Platts window, traders said while adding that trader Talmay won spot tenders by oil firm Surgut to lift two cargoes of Urals loading at the Baltic port of Ust-Luga. The price for cargoes loading on May 15-16 and 21-22 was pegged at around dated Brent minus 85-90 cents a barrel, when adding freight to the original FOB-basis price, some 20-25 cents stronger than previous price estimates. Talmay was believed to have resold barrels to China's Unipec, traders added. On Monday, a loading schedule for Russian Baltic Sea ports showed the total number of cargoes dropping to 53 in May from 62 in April.
Update: U.S. to Seize Kurdish Oil from Tanker off Texas
U.S. authorities are set to seize a cargo of oil from Iraqi Kurdistan anchored off the Texas coast after a judge approved a request from Baghdad, raising the stakes in an oil sales dispute between Iraq's central government and the autonomous region. The tanker United Kalavrvta, carrying some 1 million barrels of Iraqi Kurdish crude oil worth more than $100 million, arrived near Galveston Bay on Saturday, but has yet to unload its disputed cargo. The U.S. judge's approval of the request from Baghdad deals another blow to the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) attempts to establish its own oil sales, which are seen as a crucial step in the autonomous region's push for independence.
