Urals differentials stable, Russia's offline refinery capacity rises in March

Urals crude differentials were unchanged to dated Brent on Thursday.

Russia's daily offline primary oil refining capacity has jumped by around a third in March from February due to drone attacks, Reuters calculations, based on data from industry sources, showed.

* New estimates for March exceeded the previous forecast by 39.3%. In April, the offline primary oil refining capacity is expected to rise further, by 9.5%, to 4.323 million tons because of seasonal maintenance and the continued impact of the attacks.

* Maintenance on Russian oil refineries suggests more crude oil is available for export, but traders said supply of oil in April is expected to be limited and cited Russia's pledge to cut output in the second quarter.

* Spot Urals oil prices on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis in Indian ports remained stable from levels for March-loading cargoes at a discount of around $3.5-4 per barrel to dated Brent, sources said.

PLATTS WINDOW

* There were no bids or offers for Azeri BTC, CPC Blend or Urals oil in the Platts window on Thursday.

NEWS

* Russian senior lawmaker Pavel Zavalny, the head of parliament's energy committee, said on Thursday that Belarus has agreed to help Russia with gasoline supply.

* Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Russia was working with partners amid unprecedented pressure from the United States and European Union after Reuters reported Moscow was experiencing some delays for oil payments.