OREANDA-NEWS. February 03, 2015. Russian Urals crude was stable on Monday, supported in the Mediterranean by growing delays to tankers passing via the Turkish Straits, potential problems with Iraqi Kirkuk loadings and healthy refining margins.

Last week, Urals in the Mediterranean moved to a rare premium to Brent and the grade was expected to maintain its strength due to a relatively short loading February programme.

Also supporting the grade, delays to tankers passing through the Bosphorus have grown to 15 days from the previous 10 days for a return journey, traders said.

Urals refining margins stood at over \\$6 a barrel in the past 15 days, much higher than the \\$2.5 a barrel in the past year. Production at an oilfield near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk remained suspended on Monday after incurring severe damage during a weekend attack by Islamic State insurgents, Iraq's oil minister said.

Shipping agents in the Turkish port of Ceyhan, where Kirkuk is being loaded, said the pumping rate stood at a regular 150,000 barrels per day on Monday, but added that the port had received only 100,000 barrels in the past 24 hours and had unusually low stocks of 50,000 barrels available for loading.

Shipping agents also added that arriving vessels would have to wait for about 6-7 days before loading.

Other grades were also assessed as strong in the Mediterranean including Azeri Light which benefited in recent weeks from a shortage of rival Libyan barrels.

"The delays in the Bosphorus are clearly supporting the market although freight rates have jumped in recent days so that might drag the market to the downside," said one trader in the Mediterranean market.

In tender news, Turkey's Tupras was believed to have awarded a tender to Lukoil for the delivery of Kirkuk, traders said. In the Baltic, Litasco offered a cargo of Urals for Feb. 23-27 delivery at dated Brent minus \\$1.60, unchanged from previous prices but found no buyers, traders said.

Oil production in Russia edged down in January to 10.66 million barrels per day from 10.67 million bpd in December, Energy Ministry data showed.

Iraq's southern oil exports dipped in January to average 2.389 million barrels bpd from a record in December, officials from state-run South Oil Co (SOC) said.