* Traders were waiting for Urals oil loading dates for early April, while demand for cargoes of the grade remained steady, traders said.
* India, China and Turkey are expected to be the biggest buyers of Urals seaborne cargoes in April, traders said.
* A plunge in Brent crude prices has narrowed the spread between Atlantic Basin and Middle East benchmarks but has failed to spur interest from Asian refiners, which are instead buying up discounted Russian oil, leaving an overhang in African supply. PLATTS WINDOW
* No bids or offers were made for Urals, Azeri BTC or CPC Blend in the Platts window on Wednesday, traders said. NEWS
* Lukoil, Russia's largest private oil company, is planning to enter the
retail
fuel market in neighbouring Kazakhstan by launching a franchisee project, four
sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
* OPEC+ is likely to stick to its deal on output cuts of 2 million barrels
per day
(bpd) until the end of the year, even after a banking crisis sent crude prices
plunging, three delegates from the producer group told Reuters.
* Germany has started looking for investors for the transformation of the
PCK
Schwedt refinery site, the German economy ministry said on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
