U.S. crude oil from the seven biggest shale basins is
expected to rise to record highs in March, the U.S. Energy
Information Administration (EIA) said in its monthly Drilling
Productivity Report. Output in the Permian basin in Texas and New Mexico, the
biggest U.S. shale oil basin, is expected to rise by about
30,000 bpd in March to a record 5.68 million bpd, EIA said.
U.S. crude oil and product stockpiles likely increased by
about 300,000 barrels last week, a preliminary Reuters poll
showed. The poll was conducted ahead of reports from the American
Petroleum Institute, an industry group, due at 4:30 p.m. ET on
Tuesday, and the EIA, due at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
U.S. oil refiners are expected to have about 1,852,000
barrels per day (bpd) of capacity offline for the week ending
Feb. 17, decreasing available refining capacity by 162,000 bpd,
research company IIR Energy said. Offline capacity is expected to rise to 1,856,000 bpd in the
week ending Feb. 24, IIR added.
* Light Louisiana Sweet for March delivery rose 5
cents to a midpoint of a $3.80 premium and traded between a
$3.70 and $3.90 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures .
* Mars Sour rose 50 cents to a midpoint of a $1.25
discount and traded between a $1.50 and $1 a barrel discount to
U.S. crude futures .
* WTI Midland rose 20 cents to a midpoint of a $2.45 premium and traded between a $2.35 and $2.55 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures .
* West Texas Sour rose 10 cents to a midpoint of an 85-cent discount and traded between a 75-cent and 95-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures .
* WTI at East Houston, also known as MEH, traded from $2.50 to $2.70 over WTI.
* ICE Brent April futures fell 22 cents to settle at
$86.61 a barrel.
* WTI March crude futures fell 42 cents to settle at
$80.14 a barrel.
* The Brent/WTI spread narrowed 19 cents to
settle at minus $6.28, after hitting a high of minus $6.15 and a
low of minus $6.48.
(Reporting by Laila Kearney)
