Urals Exports Plunge as Russia Refiners Keep Oil: Energy Markets

Russia’s refiners are processing so much of the country’s Urals crude that exports via the Baltic Sea have tumbled to the lowest in 20 months, driving prices close to parity with Brent.

Shipments from Primorsk, Russia’s largest port on the Baltic, will be 953,000 barrels a day in June, down from a five-year average of 1.4 million, a loading program obtained by Bloomberg showed. The grade sold for 3 cents a barrel less than Dated Brent in northwest Europe as of June 4, the smallest discount since August, when it traded at a premium.