U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 1.3 million barrels in the week ending April 28, the third straight week of declines, to 459.6 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said. Analysts had expected a 1.1 million-barrel drop.
The drop came despite a 2 million-barrel release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve last week. Inland grades WTI Midland stayed flat, while West Texas Sour strengthened 25 cents each on Tuesday. Mars strengthened 25 cents, while Light Louisiana Sweet firmed 15 cents.
U.S. crude's discount to international benchmark Brent was little changed, last trading around $3.80 a barrel, 3 cents narrower than the previous session. The discount narrowed to $3.21 a barrel on Friday. A narrower discount typically makes U.S.-linked crudes less attractive to foreign buyers.
In refining news, Phillips 66 said it plans to run its 11 refineries in the mid-90% range of their combined crude oil capacity of 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter.
* Light Louisiana Sweet for June delivery gained 15 cents to a midpoint of a $1.90 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $1.70 and $2.10 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures ?
* Mars Sour gained 25 cents to a midpoint of a $1.15 discount and was seen bid and offered between a $1.30 and $1.00 a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures ?
* WTI Midland was unchanged at a midpoint of a
70-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a 50-cent
and 90-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures ?
* West Texas Sour gained 25 cents to a midpoint
of a 55-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a
80-cent and 30-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures
* WTI at East Houston , also known as MEH, traded
between a 70-cent and $1.10 a barrel premium to U.S. crude
futures ?
* ICE Brent July futures fell $2.99 to settle at
$72.33 a barrel on Wednesday?.
* WTI June crude futures fell $3.06 to settle at $68.60
a barrel on Wednesday?.
* The Brent/WTI spread was trading 3 cents
wider at minus $3.80, after hitting a high of minus $3.69 and a
low of minus $3.89.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston
Editing by Matthew Lewis)
