Russian Urals oil prices for cargoes loading in July were steady in Indian ports, helped by healthy demand for the grade and an expected decline in exports next month, despite rising risks of sanctions, three traders said on Friday.

The EU’s recentsanctions on Russian shipping firm Sovcomflot and several tankers involved in shipping the country’s oil have further complicated Moscow’s energy trade, giving it little room to raise prices.

One trader said Urals prices had no reason to decline as demand was solid but, at the same time, there was no scope for an increase as that might prompt buyers to switch to other options available at those prices.

Urals oil cargoes loading in July were sold at a discount of about $3.50 per barrel against dated Brent on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis in Indian ports, in line with June cargoes, they said.

Urals oil cargoes loading in July have been clearing smoothly, with just a handful of cargoes at the end of the monthbeing unplaced, one of the traders said.

Russiawill cut oil exports to 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in July from about 2 million bpd in June via its western ports, as processing at its refineries is set to rise after maintenance.

Russian oil exporters are charging more for their oil in major market India than at any time since the war in Ukraine started as a growing number of shippers and intermediaries take part in the trade, weakening the impact of Western sanctions on Moscow.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Reuters reporters in MOSCOW and Nidhi Verma in NEW DELHI; Editing by Anil D’Silva)