RusEnergy

RBC, 17.11.2006, Moscow 16:47:33.Urals oil has slid below USD57 per barrel today for the first time in the past three weeks. As of 3.35 p.m., Urals December futures were last trading at USD56.60 per barrel, which is 2.83 percent below the previous session's closing. The spread on deals ranged from USD56.25 to USD57.00 per barrel, with USD56.26 per barrel being the all-time low. Lower demand for Urals oil can be attributed to the closing of long positions in view of the global market situation where oil prices dropped almost 4 percent yesterday. Also, trading activity was higher than yesterday, with almost 200 deals drawn compared to less than 50 transactions yesterday. The trading volume topped RUR56m (approx. USD2.1m), three times as much as a day earlier.