MOSCOW, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Russian Urals oil's discount to dated Brent have widened significantly, under pressure from record high freight rates for tankers carrying Russian oil and sending sellers' revenues well below an agreed EU price cap, two traders said on Friday and Reuters calculations showed.
EU governments on Friday agreed to a price cap of $60 per barrel for the Russian crude.
Therefore, freight cost for this voyages went up to some $20 per barrel for India and $25 per barrel for China, according to Reuters calculations.
Fearing to disrupt a yet-to-be-established mechanism, many shipowners have refrained from handling Russian oil, reducing tanker availability and driving up shipping costs on key Urals export routes.
Freight rates for 80,000 Aframax class tankers on routes from Black Sea's Novorossiysk to Augusta were at the highest level since March - 475 Worldscale points.