Russia has improved the quality of its flagship Urals crude grade in the past two months, making it lighter and sweeter, and even more attractive for buyers in Asia who aren’t shunning Russian oil, Reuters reported on Monday, citing data obtained by industry sources. Urals was a key grade for export from Russia’s ports on the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, and a lot of the volumes were going to Europe before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Now Russia’s oil exports are geared toward China and India, as Western buyers are shinning and sanctioning Russian crude oil and refined products, ahead of an EU embargo on seaborne Russian oil imports, set to kick in within eight months. According to the data seen by Reuters, Russia’s Urals has become slightly sweeter—with lower sulfur content—and lighter, with higher API gravity numbers, over the past two months. Lower Russian demand for […]