WTI at East Houston, also known as MEH, and Mars traded flat.
Inland grade WTI Midland weakened 10 cents to its lowest since mid January.
The differential between WTI at Midland and East Houston widened to about 25 cents, after touching lows of 10 cents late last month as Houston draws more crude oil barrels from the Permian. U.S. crude's discount to Brent narrowed on Monday to as much as minus $5.55 a barrel, the most since January. A narrower discount makes U.S.-linked grades less attractive to foreign buyers.
However, exports could see strength later in the year as China's economy reopens and demand for oil rises. China's oil demand will grow 500,000 to 600,000 barrels per day in 2022, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais said at a conference in Houston. OPEC expects global oil demand growth to grown 2.3 million barrels per day in 2023, he said. U.S. crude production and demand will rise in 2023 as Chinese travel drives consumption, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.
Meanwhile, OPEC officials and U.S. energy executives discussed concerns that there was little spare capacity in the market on the sidelines of the CERWeek conference.
* Light Louisiana Sweet for April delivery was flat at a midpoint of a $2.80 premium and was bid and offered between a $2.60 and a $3 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures .
* Mars Sour was flat at a midpoint of an 80-cents discount and was bid and offered between a 60-cent and a $1 a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures .
* WTI Midland fell 10 cents to a midpoint of a $1.40 premium and traded between a $1.20 and a $1.60 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures .
* West Texas Sour was flat at a midpoint of a $1.75 discount and was bid and offered between a $2 and $1.50 a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures .
* WTI at East Houston, also known as MEH, traded between $1.50 and $1.80 over WTI.
* ICE Brent May futures fell $2.89 to settle at
$83.29 a barrel.
* WTI April crude futures fell $2.88 to settle at
$77.58 a barrel.
* The Brent/WTI spread was flat at minus
$5.62, after hitting a high of minus $5.55 and a low of minus
$5.75.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston)
