OREANDA-NEWS.  Russian medium sour Urals prices fell in Northwest Europe on 23 May 2014 while Iraqi Kirkuk could return to the market in June as repairmen have started fixing the pipeline to Turkey.

The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, bringing Kirkuk oil to the Mediterranean, was shut at the start of March by sabotage.

In the Platts window, Eni sold a 100,000 tonne Urals cargo to Total at dated Brent minus USD 1.90 cif Rotterdam loading June 2-6.

A fire on a pipeline in Russia this week stirred fears that Baltic exports of Urals would be smaller in June but traders said that Transneft would likely be able to make up for it.

"It appears everything is fine, only minor damages," one trader said.

Eni also offered an 80,000 tonne Urals cargo in the Mediterranean but no interest surfaced. The offer was at dated Brent minus USD 1.90 cif Augusta loading June 2-6.

Trafigura bid for a 100,000 tonne Urals cargo up to dated Brent minus USD 1.85 cif Rotterdam loading June 13-17.

Exports of Urals from Ust-Luga have been pencilled at 1.7 million tonnes in June, down from 2.3 million tonnes in May, according to a preliminary schedule. No further Primorsk dates emerged.

Exports of Urals from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk have been scheduled at 2.475 million tonnes, down from 2.635 million tonnes in May, the same schedule showed.

Iraqi engineers are at last fixing the main pipeline to Turkey after it was shut down for nearly three months in attacks by an al Qaeda-offshoot cell, causing a total collapse in exports from northern oil fields worth billions of dollars.

"If all goes as planned, we will finish repairs in 10-15 days from May 20," an oil official in Mosul said.

Iraq filed for arbitration against Turkey on Friday after European markets bought the first load of oil to be carried by pipeline from Iraqi Kurdistan.

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Friday the first cargo had been sold into the Mediterranean spot crude market. "This crude oil will possibly go to Italy or Germany," he said in comments broadcast on TRT television.

The chairman of Libya's state-oil firm National Oil Corp (NOC), Nuri Berruein, has resigned, NOC spokesman Mohamed El Harari said.