Demand was coming from the East, mainly from China, a broker said.
At least 16 Very Large Crude Carriers were chartered to head to Asia in the next month, fixtures data on Kpler showed. Of those, at least nine were headed to China. WTI's discount to Brent however continued to remain range bound, trading between a high of $5.73 and $6.00. A discount wider than $6 often prompts more U.S. exports as a wider discount makes U.S.-linked grades more attractive to foreign buyers.
Inland grade WTI Midland weakened 10 cents as data from the American Petroleum Institute showed a 1.16 million barrel rise in crude inventories, compared with estimates for a rise of 1.19 million barrels. In refining news, Mexican state oil company Pemex on Tuesday said a fire at one of the operating units at its Deer Park, Texas facility has been extinguished. Production at Exxon Mobil Corp's Beaumont, Texas refinery has surpassed that of other company refineries as a new crude distillation unit (CDU) continues its first startup, sources familiar with plant operations said.
* Light Louisiana Sweet for April delivery rose
about 13 cents to a midpoint of a $3.13 premium and was bid and
offered between a $2.75 and a $3.50 a barrel premium to U.S.
crude futures .
* Mars Sour gained 40 cents at a midpoint of an
15-cent premium and was traded between a flat and a 30-cent a
barrel premium 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 strengthened 35 cents to a
midpoint of a 5-cent discount and was bid and offered between a
10 cent a barrel discount and flat to U.S. crude futures .
* WTI at East Houston, also known as MEH, traded between $1.50 and $1.90 over WTI.
* ICE Brent May futures fell $3.32 to settle at
$77.45 a barrel.
* WTI April crude futures fell $3.47 to settle at
$71.33 a barrel.
* The Brent/WTI spread narrowed 1 cent to
minus $5.85, after hitting a high of minus $5.73 and a low of
minus $6.00.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by David
Gregorio)
