Wednesday marked the first day that cash grades began trading against June, ending the three-day roll period in which traders use the window to net out exposures.
Coastal grades Light Louisiana Sweet gained 10 cents at a midpoint of a $1.45 premium. The grade traded on Tuesday at its weakest since Dec. 13.
Mars Sour , another coastal grade, gained a quarter of a dollar at a midpoint of a $1.3 discount. Those grades strengthened despite U.S. crude's discount to Brent narrowing to $3.25 a barrel, the narrowest since Dec. 23. A narrower spread typically makes U.S.-linked grades less attractive to foreign buyers.
Inland grades were mixed on the day.
In U.S. supply, crude oil and gasoline inventories fell more than expected last week, as demand for the motor fuel picked up ahead of the peak summer driving season, Energy Information Administration data showed on Wednesday. Crude inventories fell by 5.1 million barrels in the week to April 21 to 460.9 million barrels, far exceeding analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.5 million-barrel drop.
* Light Louisiana Sweet for June delivery gained
10 cents at a midpoint of a $1.45 premium and was seen bid and
offered between a $1.3 and $1.6 a barrel premium to U.S. crude
futures ?
* Mars Sour gained a quarter of a dollar at a
midpoint of a $1.3 discount and was seen bid and offered between
a $1.4 and $1.2 a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures ?
* WTI Midland gained 5 cents at a midpoint of a
55-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a 45-cent
and 65-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures ?
* West Texas Sour fell 15 cents at a midpoint of a
70-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a $1 and
40-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures ?
* WTI at East Houston , also known as MEH, traded
between a 60-cent and 80-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude
futures ?
* ICE Brent June futures fell $3.08 to settle at
$77.69 a barrel on Wednesday?.
* WTI June crude futures fell $2.77 to settle at $74.3
a barrel on Wednesday?.
* The Brent/WTI spread narrowed, hitting a high
of minus $3.25 and a low of minus $3.65.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly in New York; Editing by Lisa
Shumaker and David Gregorio)
