Following the expiration of the U.S. crude futures front-month contract on Tuesday, the cash crude market has entered the roll period, in which traders square their crude positions. On the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, global benchmark Brent crude was about 15% lower than a year earlier. It hit a 14-year high of nearly $128 a barrel on March 8, 2022. An indicator of future supply, U.S. oil rigs fell seven to 600 this week, Baker Hughes Co said. While the combined oil and gas rig count was still up 103 rigs, or 16%, over this time last year, energy firms in February cut the most rigs in a month since June 2020.
There also have been indications that Russian crude and refined products are accumulating on tankers floating at sea, a signal of increasing supplies. Meanwhile, the pulse of inflation in the United States, continued to accelerate, according to a Commerce Department report that showed the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index on the rise.
The metric, which the Federal Reserve uses to gauge its 2%
inflation target, rose 5.4% last month from a year earlier, a
pickup from an upwardly revised 5.3% annual pace in December.
* Light Louisiana Sweet for March delivery was
unchanged at a midpoint of a $3.5 premium and was seen bid and
offered between a $3 and $4 a barrel premium to U.S. crude
futures
* Mars Sour fell 20 cents at a midpoint of a
$1.30 discount and was seen bid and offered between a $1.40 and
$1.20 a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures
* WTI Midland fell 15 cents at a midpoint of a
$2.15 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $2.05 and
$2.25 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures
* West Texas Sour fell 20 cents at a midpoint of
a 40-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a
50-cent and 30-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures
* WTI at East Houston , also known as MEH, traded
between a $2.15 and $2.35 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures
* ICE Brent April futures rose 95 cents to settle
at $83.16 a barrel.
* WTI April crude futures rose 93 cents to settle at $76.32 a barrel?.
* The Brent/WTI spread narrowed 11 cents to minus $6.71, after hitting a high of minus $6.69 and a low of minus $6.99. (Reporting by Tim McLaughlin; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
