Russia’s flagship crude sold at a slight discount of 70 cents a barrel surged from an 8-month low seen before Christmas. According to Bloomberg, the rise was catalyzed by a surprising Saudi Arabia move to cut production by 1 million barrels a day in February and March.
- Russia’s Urals crude, similar to Saudi’s benchmark Arab Light crude, has seen an increase in demand from European refiners
- Most European buyers have seen their contractual volumes for February cut, and one refiner did not get any allocated cargoes.
- Russia is expected to boost its output slightly while most other nations participating in a supply-management pact kept production stable.
- The amount of Urals for loading the first five days of February from Baltic ports will rise slightly to six cargoes with a full-month February program expected by the end of January.
Oil futures are currently declining. CL! is down 0.15%
