In the Platts window, Vitol offered a mid-May Aframax cargo in the Mediterranean at dated Brent minus 75 cents but found no buyers. The price was 65 cents weaker than previous estimates.

Meanwhile, Urals May-June swaps showed the market was in deep contango as the grade traded as strong as minus 25 cents for June, meaning the market was still considering the possibility of yet another wave of strengthening.

In other grades, Vitol sold a CPC cargo to Total at dated Brent minus 20 cents, some 15 cents stronger than previous price estimates, traders said.

The deal surprised the market as other light grades were under pressure, including Azeri Light, due to a number of unsold cargoes including by Vitol, Unipec, BP, Chevron, Socar and Statoil, traders said.

One major trader in Azeri said European refiners simply lacked capacity to process such large unsold volumes, and therefore the downside was still there for the grade, which has already fallen to its smallest premium to Urals since August.

Urals traders also said that some cargoes were added to the May programme with Lukoil due to export 80,000 tonnes from Black Sea's Novorossiisk on top of the May loadings plan and Tatneft due to load 100,000 tonnes of Urals from Baltic Sea's Ust-Luga.

Also potentially boosting supplies was news that oil firm Surgut would halt a primary refining unit at its biggest Kirishi refinery from the end of April until mid-May.

Libya's western Wafa oil and gas field is still working despite a threat by state security guards to shut down production, a spokesman for state oil firm NOC said.

The El Feel field, also operated by NOC and Italy's ENI ENI.MI, remained closed. 

 

(Reuters)