They expect Russia's provisional loading plan for Oct. 1-10 to emerge on Wednesday.

In the Platts window, Shell offered 100,000 tonnes of Urals from Primorsk or Ust-Luga for loading on Oct. 3-7 at minus $1.25 a barrel to dated Brent, down by 25 cents from its offer on Monday, but found no buyer.

Trafigura offered 100,000 tonnes of Baltic Urals for Oct. 2-6 loading at minus $1.20 a barrel, compared to its offer of minus $0.85 a barrel in the previous trading session.

Glencore showed a similar cargo for loading on Sept. 28-Oct. 2 at minus $1.25 a barrel, but also failed to sell.

There were no bids or offers for Urals, Azeri BTC, CPC Blend and Siberian light in Mediterranean in the afternoon trading session.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday that oil prices of between $70 and $80 per barrel were only temporary and were driven by sanctions, adding that the long-term price would stand at around $50 per barrel.

Novak said he expected Russia's oil production in 2018 to total 553 million tonnes (11.105 million barrels per day), and that production would rise to 570 million tonnes in 2021.