Feb 28 (Reuters) - Inland physical crude oil grades
weakened on Tuesday, dealers said, with WTI Midland dropping for
the third consecutive session to its lowest since January,
following news of refineries shutting crude units in recent
days.
WTI Midland fell 15 cents to a midpoint of a $1.85
premium, its weakest since Jan. 26. West Texas Sour fell a quarter of a dollar to a midpoint of a 65-cent discount,
the weakest since Feb. 3.
Repairs are continuing on the diesel hydrotreater at PBF
Energy's 190,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Chalmette,
Louisiana, refinery, people familiar with plant operations said.
The 27,000-bpd hydrotreater could restart as early as next
week but is expected to return by the second weekend in March,
the sources said.
Motiva Enterprises shut the large coker on Monday
at its 626,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas,
refinery, people familiar with plant operations said.
The 110,000-bpd DCU-2 coker is scheduled to be closed for
two weeks of repairs, the sources said.
Moreover, the small crude distillation unit (CDU) at Pemex's 312,500 bpd Deer Park, Texas, refinery was shut
following a Thursday night fire, said people familiar with plant
operations on Friday.
A fire broke out on the 70,000-bpd CDU-1 on Thursday night,
the sources said. The 270,000-bpd CDU-2 remains in operation at
the refinery.
In U.S. supply, crude oil inventories rose last week, while
fuel stockpiles fell, according to market sources citing
American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. Crude stocks rose by about 6.2 million barrels in the week
ended Feb. 24, they said. Gasoline inventories fell by about 1.8
million barrels, while distillate stocks fell by about 340,000
barrels, said the sources on condition of anonymity.
* Light Louisiana Sweet for March delivery fell 15
cents to a midpoint of a $2.85 premium and was seen bid and
offered between a $2.75 and $2.95 a barrel premium to U.S. crude
futures
* Mars Sour gained 40 cents at a midpoint of a
70-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a 80-cent
and 60-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures ?
* WTI Midland fell 15 cents to a midpoint of a $1.85
premium and was seen bid and offered between a $1.75 and $1.95 a
barrel premium to U.S. crude futures ?
* West Texas Sour fell a quarter of a dollar to a
midpoint of a 65-cent discount and was seen bid and offered
between a 75-cent and 55-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude
futures
* WTI at East Houston , also known as MEH, traded
between a $1.95 and $2.15 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures
* ICE Brent April futures rose $1.44 to settle at
$83.89 a barrel on Tuesday?.
* WTI April crude futures rose $1.37 to settle at
$77.05 a barrel on Tuesday?.
* The Brent/WTI spread last narrowed 3 cents to
minus $6.20, after hitting a high of minus $6.02 and a low of
minus $6.26.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Richard Chang)
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