OREANDA-NEWS  The main Russian export grade of Urals oil has fallen in price compared to the Brent benchmark grade for shipments to India and China, as local buyers have returned to demanding discounts. This is reported by Reuters, citing sources in the trading community.

Since March, after the start of the Israeli and US operations against Iran and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Urals has been trading at a premium to Brent, but now demand is falling.

Asian factories switched to alternative suppliers and reduced processing volumes (including due to falling profitability), which allowed them to reduce prices for themselves. In June, Urals discounts range from two to three dollars, although in April and May they overpaid seven to eight dollars for it. We are talking about the final cost for buyers, not the one that is fixed during loading.

Earlier it was reported that China's oil imports in May decreased by about 7.8 million barrels per day, to the lowest level in more than eight years. This information led to a drop in oil prices to the lowest level since the end of April.