Med Crude-Urals Steady in South, Azeri Weakens

Russian Urals prices were steady in the south on Thursday, underpinned by a tighter July loading programme, while Azeri Light weakened following other light grades.

"There is not much available in the second decade (of the month) plus Unipec may take some Suezmaxes to China...it's also a shorter programme overall so the trend is up," one trader said.

In the Platts window, Socar offered a cargo of Azeri Light at dated Brent plus $2.25 cif Augusta, loading July 10-14. No buyers surfaced.

Total bid for an 80,000 tonne cargo of Urals at dated Brent minus $1.90 cif Augusta loading July 16-20, the same bid level as in the previous session.

Russia's Surgut issued a sell tender for two Urals cargoes from Primorsk and Ust Luga, both loading July 12-13.

Glencore (GLCNF) won Turkish Tupras' buy tender for a cargo of Kazakh CPC Blend, traders said, for July 15-25 loading.

Algeria's Sonatrach cut its July official selling price (OSP) for Saharan Blend to dated Brent plus 10 cents a barrel on an FOB basis, from dated Brent plus $1.00 for June.

In Libya, there was some mild improvement in the nearly year-long oil blockage crisis.

Libya's oil output has risen to 300,000 barrels a day (bpd) after the El Feel field in the southwest increased production to 105,000 bpd, a spokesman for National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Thursday.

The eastern Hariga oil port has reopened and is preparing to receive a tanker after a deal with a group of protesting security guards, NOC spokesman Mohamed El Harrai said.

Kurdish Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami told Reuters the Kurds had plans to increase their exports eight-fold by the end of 2015, including pumping oil from the fields taken by Kurdish fighters two weeks ago.

(Reporting by Julia Payne; editing by Keiron Henderson)