WTI narrowed 10 cents to trade at a $5.35 a barrel discount to Brent, and traded in a narrow range of minus $5.09 and minus $5.42.
A narrower discount makes U.S.-linked crude oil more expensive for foreign buyers. U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell unexpectedly last week as refineries restarted operations after maintenance and imports fell to a two-year low, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude inventories fell by 7.5 million barrels in the week to March 24 to 473.7 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 100,000-barrel rise. Gasoline stocks fell by a larger-than-expected 2.9 million barrels in the week, indicating strong demand heading into the U.S. driving season.? U.S. oil and gas activity also stalled in the first quarter as production gains slowed and drillers' outlooks turned negative, according to a survey released on Wednesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
* Light Louisiana Sweet for April delivery fell 10
cents to a midpoint of a $1.80 premium and was traded between a
$1.60 and a $2.00 a barrel premium to WTI.
* Mars Sour strengthened 30 cents to a midpoint of
a $1.65 discount and traded between a $1.50 and a $1.80 discount
a barrel to WTI.
* WTI Midland eased 15 cents to trade at a
midpoint of a 65-cent premium and traded between a 50-cent and
an 80-cent a barrel premium to WTI.
* West Texas Sour eased 30 cents to a midpoint of
a $1.50 discount and was bid and offered between a $2.40 and a
60-cent a barrel discount to WTI.
* WTI at East Houston, also known as MEH, traded between 70
cents and $1.10 over WTI.
* ICE Brent May futures rose 37 cents to settle at
$78.28 a barrel.
* WTI April crude futures rose 23 cents to settle at
$72.97 a barrel.
* The Brent/WTI spread narrowed 10 cents to
minus $5.35, after hitting a high of minus $5.09 and a low of
minus $5.42.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; editing by Jonathan
Oatis)
