Urals oil is a reference

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

brand used as a basis for pricing of the Russian export oil mixture. It is a mix of heavy sour oil of

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

and the

Volga region The Volga Region (russian: Поволжье, ''Povolzhye'', literally: "along the Volga") is a historical region in Russia that encompasses the drainage basin of the Volga River, the longest river in Europe, in central and southern European Russ ...

with light oil of

Western Siberia Western Siberia or West Siberia (russian: Западная Сибирь, Zapadnaya Sibir'; kk, Батыс Сібір) is a part of the larger region of Siberia that is mostly located in the Russian Federation. It lies between the Ural region an ...

. Other reference oils are Brent,

West Texas Intermediate West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is a grade or mix of crude oil; the term is also used to refer to the spot price, the futures price, or assessed price for that oil. In colloquial usage, WTI usually refers to the WTI Crude Oil futures contract tr ...

and

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

. Urals brand oil is supplied through the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline system and the Druzhba pipeline. Urals oil futures trade on

Moscow Exchange The Moscow Exchange (MOEX; rus, Московская биржа, r=Moskovskaya birzha, p=mɐˈskofskəjə ˈbʲirʐə, a=) is the largest exchange in Russia, operating trading markets in equities, bonds, derivatives, the foreign exchange market, ...

. There was also an effort to trade it on NYMEX under the name of REBCO (Russian Export Blend Crude Oil); however, not a single trade was made. Prices for Urals grade oil are formed on the basis of the cost of Brent grade oil. Since the quality of Russian oil is lower, it costs less than the equivalent from the North Sea. The cost of Urals grade oil is 1-2 USD/barrel less than Brent. But - not always. Urals grade oil was traded in Northwestern Europe on June 25, 2020 at a premium to Brent of $2.35/bbl - a record in the entire history of monitoring since September 1994. Since the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

, the price of Urals oil has dipped to $15-20 under the price of Brent.

References

{{Petroleum industry Benchmark crude oils Petroleum in Russia