Price of Russia’s Urals oil hits highest since 2013

Russia’s Urals crude price rose to $116.05 per barrel in early April 2026, marking a 13 year high, while discounts to Brent narrowed to below $27.75 per barrel, according to Bloomberg citing Argus Media data.

As followed closely by bne IntelliNews, the war in Iran disrupted around one-fifth of global oil supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz, forcing buyers to seek alternative sources and boosting demand for Russian crude.

The surge in Urals prices followed a sharp increase in global oil benchmarks, with Brent exceeding $100 per barrel amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. 

According to Bloomberg, Urals prices at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk reached $114.45 per barrel on April 2, while export prices significantly exceeded the Russian budget benchmark of $59 per barrel. 

Discounts to Brent fell to their lowest level since mid December 2025.

Additional support came from a temporary US licence issued in March, allowing India to import Russian oil already at sea, which led to a sharp increase in purchases. 

Russian oil was reportedly sold to India at a premium of about $6.1 per barrel to Brent, up from $3.9 two weeks earlier, while temporary sanctions relief on shipments loaded before March 12 remains in effect until April 11.

However, analysts surveyed by RBC reminded of constraints on Russia’s ability to fully benefit from higher prices, such as limited export capacity from frequent Ukrainian drone attacks on port fuel infrastructure, including in the Baltic region. 

Bloomberg estimated that ports such as Ust Luga and Primorsk account for around 40% of Russia’s oil export capacity.

Russia’s benchmark Urals oil price used for taxation purposes rose by 73% month-on-month (m/m) to $77 per barrel in March 2026, while discounts to Brent increased by $0.3 m/m to $26.8 per barrel, according to a separate report by Interfax citing Argus.

The Brent benchmark rose to $104 per barrel in March 2026, which reportedly drove the increase in Urals pricing to near peak levels last seen in autumn 2023.  The ruble-denominated Urals price reached RUB6,261 per barrel, exceeding the budget assumption of the Finance Ministry by 15%.