Mars firmed 40 cents to its highest in a month. WTI at East Houston, also known as MEH, also gained 15 cents, while inland grade WTI Midland strengthened 20 cents. U.S. crude's discount to Brent widened 28 cents to as much as minus $5.85 a barrel. A wider discount makes U.S.-linked grades more attractive to foreign buyers.
Crude inventories fell by 1.7 million barrels to 478.5 million barrels in the week ending March 3, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.4 million-barrel rise. Net U.S. crude imports rose by 2.33 million barrels per day, EIA said. The U.S. pipeline regulator said on Tuesday it would require TC Energy to reduce operating pressure on more than 1,000 additional miles (1,609 kms) of its Keystone pipeline that spilled about 13,000 barrels of oil in rural Kansas in December.
The pressure reductions will lower crude flow rates on the entire Keystone system, which could affect price differentials between U.S. and Canadian crude, Credit Suisse analyst Andrew Kuske said in a note. Meanwhile, Angola's secretary of state for oil and gas said there was no need for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase oil output to make up for Russia's 500,000 barrel per day cut, implying the markets were balanced.
* Light Louisiana Sweet for April delivery fell 10
cents to a midpoint of a $2.70 premium and was traded between a
$2.50 and a $2.90 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures .
* Mars Sour gained 40 cents at a midpoint of an
40-cents discount and was bid and offered between a 20-cent and
a 60-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures .
* WTI Midland rose 20 cents to a midpoint of a
$1.60 premium and traded between a $1.40 and a $1.80 a barrel
premium to U.S. crude futures .
* West Texas Sour strengthened $1.55 at a midpoint
of a 20-cent discount and was bid and offered between a 30-cent
and a 10-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures .
* WTI at East Houston, also known as MEH, traded between $1.60 and $2 over WTI.
* ICE Brent May futures fell 63 cents to settle at
$82.66 a barrel.
* WTI April crude futures fell 92 cents to settle at
$76.66 a barrel.
* The Brent/WTI spread widened 26 cents to
minus $5.83, after hitting a high of minus $5.63 and a low of
minus $5.85.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Richard
Chang)
