Analysis: Russian oil the winner from Syria, Iran sanctions

"The strength of Urals relative to Brent in recent weeks is due to a combination of factors: uncertainty over the impact of sanctions on Iran and the loss of Syrian production and exports," Roy Jordan with consultancy Facts Global Energy said. Forced to pay higher Urals prices, European refiners have been losing money, which could discourage the EU from moving ahead with a proposed ban on Iranian oil. Urals is typically sold at discounts to Brent, because it contains about 1.3 percent of sulfur with API gravity of about 32, making it heavier and more sour than the crudes that go into setting the North Sea benchmark. Most Iranian and Syrian crudes are similar to or heavier than Urals. All of these crudes require extra refining. Syria exported most of its 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) of heavy sour crude to the Mediterranean before sanctions were imposed earlier this year following repression of civil protest against President Bashar al-Assad's 11-year rule. Syrian heavy crudes were typically the alternative to Urals crude, when the Russian prices were high.

Analysis: Russian oil the winner from Syria, Iran sanctions