Dec 31 (Reuters) - Russian Urals crude price differentialsweakened in the Mediterranean and the Baltic due to amplesupplies, traders said on Thursday.
In the Platts window, Litasco sold to Shell a 80,000 tonnecargo in the Mediterranean loading on Jan. 18-22 at a discountof $1.45 a barrel to dated Brent, some 30-35 cents a barrelweaker than previous levels, traders said.
Vitol unsuccessfully offered its Jan. 19-23 cargo at adiscount of $1.45 a barrel, market participants said.
Ample supplies of Urals in January were putting levels underpressure and some traders said they expected some cargoes toremain unsold after the New Year holidays.
In the Platts window, Vitol offered in the Baltic a 100,000tonne cargo for loading on Jan. 14-18 at a discount of $3.05 abarrel to dated Brent, traders said, but found no buyers. Theasking price was some 25 cents weaker than previous estimates.
Loadings from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk were haltedon Dec. 30 and 31 due to bad weather and traders said one or twocargoes from the December programme could be postponed untilJanuary.
Turkey's Tupras on Dec. 30 closed a tender to buy80,000-140,000 tonnes of Urals or 85,000 tonnes of CPC Blend fordelivery on Jan. 20-30, but the results were still unknown. (Reporting by Olga Yagova; editing by David Clarke)
