Russia’s Urals crude prices for loading in May to India have been held stable for the third consecutive month, sources told Reuters, cited by XM.

• Discounts for spot Urals cargoes on a DES basis to India remain at around Brent minus $3.5-$4/b for May, unchanged since March.
• Urals was prices around $66-$68/b for cargoes from the Baltic or Black Sea May 2, despite a fall in Brent prices.
• In April, Urals was trading above $70/b, well more than the $60/b G7 price cap.
• Sanction risks and weak refining margins at Indian oil plants have staved off upside support on Urals prices and creating a balancing point.
• Freight rates for Aframax ships - which load around 720k bbl of Urals crude in Russia’s Primorsk and Ust-Luga ports in the Baltic Sea – remain around $8m for a one-way voyage, stable on April.