Subscriber note: Feb 22 Med sour crude commentary not published Feb 22

Please not that the February 22 Mediterranean sour crude commentary was not published on Platts Global Alert page 1296 or in the Crude Oil Marketwire on February 22. The commentary can now be found on page 1296 and will be published in the correction section of the Crude Oil Marketwire Feb 25. If you have any comments or questions please send them to europe_crude@platts.com

The Mediterranean Urals crude differential plunged $0.55/barrel to an eight-month low, as selling interest went unmet Friday. Platts assessed Urals CIF Augusta at Dated Brent minus $2.05/barrel, the weakest since June 13. During Platts Market On Close assessment process, Vitol offered a 140,000 mt vessel of Urals, CFR basis Augusta, loading Novorossiisk March 4-8, at Dated Brent minus $2.35/b, and found no buyers. Platts normalized $0.35/b for the Aframax-Suezmax spread and $0.03/b for the CFR-CIF spread. The unmet offer underscored the weak demand in the Mediterranean market, which has been dominated by offers through the week. "Even [Dated Brent] minus $2.35/b for a Suez can't attract anyone," a market source said. Other sources suggested that demand in the region still exists, but that with the numerous offers, as well as values heading markedly weaker, end-users are content to sit on the sidelines until the bottom is found. "If you're a buyer, a refiner, you ask, 'What's the point? I'll just wait a bit'," a market source said. Strong Urals margins, which have pushed above $3.00/b, would suggest potential demand, though it went missing toward week's end. "Let's wait for Monday," a market source said. That said, the market is gearing up for a particularly large March program, which is expected to emerge Monday, a factor that could further weigh on values. The preliminary March 1-12 export program that the market have been working with in recent days contained smaller-than-expected volumes. Much more crude is expected in the final program, sources said, given the slew of Russian refinery turnarounds. Vitol also offered a 80,000 mt Urals vessel, CFR Augusta, loading Novorossiisk March 5-9, at Dated Brent minus $1.85/b, and also found no buyers. This offer was viewed higher than market level given the previous day's structure of a slight backwardation, with no bidding interest Friday in the March 4-19 assessment window to suggest a move to contango. The Northwest European Urals market saw a similar drop, one that was lighter in magnitude but resulted in the weakest value in nine months. During MOC process, Glencore offered a 100,000 mt Urals vessel, CFR Rotterdam, loading March 4-8, at Dated Brent minus $2.35/b, without finding a buyer With a slight $0.005/b contango, the resulting CIF Rotterdam assessment fell 37 cents to Dated Brent minus $2.34/b, the weakest since May 28.