MOSCOW, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Urals crude differentials to dated Brent were unchanged on Tuesday, while prices for January-February oil cargoes delivered to India were holding above $60 per barrel in Russian ports, sources said.

Prices for flagship Russian Urals oil cargoes loading in January and early February for delivery to India held slightly above the $60 per barrel Western price cap, traders said and Reuters calculations showed.

Softer shipping costs on the main export routes to Asia and stable prices in Indian ports provided support to Urals free-on-board (FOB) estimates, market sources said.

Discounts in Indian ports, the main destination for sea-borne Urals, narrowed to $3.50 per barrel and below on a delivered at port (DAP) basis, from a $3.60-3.80 range to dated Brent for December-loading cargoes, traders said.

PLATTS WINDOW

• No bids or offers were shown for Urals, Azeri BTC or CPC Blend in the Platts window on Tuesday.

NEWS

• Spilled oil has washed up along "tens of kilometres" of the Russian Black Sea coast after two tankers were badly damaged in a storm at the weekend, a regional official said on Tuesday, and state media said a third ship was now in trouble.

• Saudi Arabia has successfully extracted lithium from brine samples from national giant Aramco's oilfields and plans to launch a commercial pilot programme for direct extraction soon, the Saudi vice minister of mining affairs said on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Alexander Smith)