Light Louisiana Sweet and Mars Sour both strengthened during the session.
Meanwhile, WTI Midland, which weakened on Tuesday for the third straight session to its lowest since January, was unchanged on Wednesday.
U.S. crude oil inventories rose for the 10th week in a row,
surging to their most since May 2021, but record U.S. exports of
crude oil kept the build smaller than in recent weeks, data from
the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday. Crude inventories rose by 1.2 million barrels
in the week ending Feb. 24 to 480.2 million barrels, compared
with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a
500,000-barrel rise.
A widening of U.S. crude and Brent crude spreads contributed
to a record 5.6 million barrels per day in U.S. crude exports
last week, which resulted in a smaller build than in previous
weeks, according to UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
* Light Louisiana Sweet for March delivery gained 10
cents at a midpoint of a $2.95 premium and was seen bid and
offered between a $2.85 and $3.05 a barrel premium to U.S. crude
futures ?
* Mars Sour gained 20 cents at a midpoint of a
50-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a 60-cent
and 40-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures ?
* WTI Midland was unchanged at 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 $1.00 at a midpoint of a
77-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a discount
of $1.75?? and 20-cent a barrel premium 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 May futures rose 86 cents to settle at
$84.31 a barrel on Wednesday?.
* WTI April crude futures rose 64 cents to settle at
$77.69 a barrel on Wednesday.
* The Brent/WTI spread widened as much as 24
cents, hitting a high of minus $6.18 and a low of minus $6.50.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
