Margins pressure sour crudes

摘要

In the North Sea, light benchmark-setting Forties' discount to North Sea Dated was relatively steady at around 20/bl. Few cargoes traded, as refiners have met their main requirements and sellers were not in a rush to move supplies.A glut of late-December Russian medium sour Urals cargoes and a lack of US and Asia-Pacific interest pressured the grade's values in northwest Europe and the Mediterranean relative to North Sea Dated. Narrow margins prompted Mediterranean refiners to cut runs, leaving supplies loading in the second half of December unsold. Urals came under further pressure after exports of Iraqi medium sour Kirkuk resumed. The grade's export pipeline was closed for six days following a blast on 21 November.