Prices for Russian Urals oil loading in October held steady in Indian ports, despite expectations of wider discounts to Brent, as a sour shortage in world market persists, three traders said.

Urals oil cargoes loading from Russian ports in October traded at discounts of $6-7 per barrel on DES (delivered ex ship) basis in Indian ports, close to pricesfor September-loading volumes, traders said.

“Demand is good. There is not enough sour (oil) in the market,” one of the traders said, adding most Indian refiners are actively bidding for spot Russian barrels.

India has been amajor buyer of Russian Urals oil since last year. In August 2023, Urals discounts narrowed to their slimmest level to Brent since the EU embargo on Russian oil in December 2022. Indian refiners complained prices were too high and said they’d reduce theirbuying.

Discounts for Russian oil widened slightly for September volumes, but the sour shortage kept prices from falling further.

There’s not sufficient supply of sour crude for complex refineries in India, Kuwait, Jizan, Oman and China because of the OPEC+ cuts, the chief executive of the world’s largest independent oil trader Vitol said early in September.

Russia , Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ members agreed to continue oil output and export cuts until the end of the year.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Reuters, Editing by Alexandra Hudson)