Urals diffs steady, Azeri BTC loadings set fall 1% in Jan vs Dec

Urals crude differentials held steady on Friday in an opaque market, while Azeri BTC oil loadings were set to fall 1% next month compared to December.

• Azeri BTC crude oil exports from Turkey's Ceyhan port have been set at 20.0 million barrels for January, down from 20.2 million barrels in December.

• Russia, the world's biggest exporter of energy, could cut oil production and will refuse to sell oil to any country that imposes the West's "stupid" price cap on Russian oil, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

PLATTS WINDOW

• No bids or offers were made for Urals, Azeri BTC or CPC Blend in the Platts window on Friday, traders said.

NEWS

• President Xi Jinping told Gulf Arab leaders on Friday that China would work to buy oil and gas in yuan, a move that would support Beijing's goal to establish its currency internationally and weaken the U.S. dollar's grip on world trade.

• Germany expects to reach a decision next week on how the Schwedt refinery will be supplied as a ban on Russian oil takes effect.

• Russia's offline primary oil refining capacity was revised up by 8.5% for December from the previous plan to 1.766 million tonnes, according to industry sources' data and Reuters calculations.