MOSCOW, April 12 (Reuters) - Urals crude oil
differentials were unchanged on Wednesday, while Caspian
Pipeline Consortium (CPC) said it had suspended CPC Blend
exports for planned maintenance.
* The price spread between Urals crude oil and the Brent
crude
benchmark has been narrowing gradually, Russia's Interfax news
agency reported Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Kolychev as
saying on Wednesday.
* The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which handles 1% of
global oil flows, has stopped oil loadings through its single
mooring points (SPM) since April 10 because of a planned
shutdown, it said on Wednesday.
* CPC Blend oil loadings are scheduled to resume on April 14
after
maintenance, said two traders familiar with CPC terminal
operations.
* Most of April-loading CPC Blend volumes were placed with
end
users, while traders did not expect the planned suspension to
delay loadings.
PLATTS WINDOW
* No bids or offers were made for Urals, Azeri BTC or CPC
Blend in
the Platts window on Wednesday, traders said.
NEWS
* The global oil market could see tightness in the second
half of
2023, which would push oil prices higher, said Fatih Birol,
executive director of the International Energy Agency.
* Benchmark Northwest European diesel refining margins
dropped to
$17.70 a barrel on Wednesday, their lowest since Feb. 25, 2022.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Richard Chang)
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