Med crude-Urals diffs stable, more tankers wait on water

MOSCOW, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Urals crude differentials to dated Brent were unchanged on Friday in thin trade, while Russian oil buyers caution leave more tankers with the grade on water, traders said.

Traders are increasingly using tankers to store Russia's Urals crude as demand weakens and customers weigh growing sanctions risks, Reuters calculations based on LSEG and trade data show.

Longer tanker voyages lead to vessel shortages in Russian oil market and push freight rates to new highs, traders said.

PLATTS WINDOW

• No bids or offers were made on Friday for Urals, Azeri BTC and CPC Blend, traders said.

NEWS

• Kazakh officials accepted bribes to approve billions of dollars of costs incurred by top oil companies at one of its giant fields, representatives of the government said in a confidential arbitration case it won in Sweden, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.