Argus: Price of Russia’s Urals blend hits 21-year low on March 27

MOSCOW, Mar 30 (PRIME) -- The price of Russia’s export oil blend Urals with delivery to Northwestern Europe fell to U.S. $16.2 per barrel on March 27, the lowest since 1999, news agency Argus Media said in a statement on Monday.

Over the previous week, the Urals price fell by $5.51 per barrel, and discount to the price increased by $1.25 to $4.75 per barrel, the highest since June 2008, Argus said.

Russia is to boost exports as its refineries start the maintenance season and following termination of the OPEC+ deal. The sales may even exceed the planned amount as many Russian oil producers failed to agree with Belarus on restart of supplies in April. Some companies may have taken the situation into account by redirecting excessive volumes to the sea ports, the agency said.

Combined waterborne exports from the Russian ports that are serviced by Transneft should raise by 9.3% on the month to 2.97 million barrels a day in April, which is only as slight contraction as compared with the record level of October 2019, when oil loading amounted to 2.98 million barrels a day.

The market does not rule out that the low prices will persist for long because of lower refining. Demand for oil products slumped due to an economic slowdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, Argus said.

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