Coastal grades Mars strengthened 15 cents, while Light Louisiana Sweet firmed 20 cents.
U.S. crude's discount to international benchmark Brent widened marginally to as low as minus $4.05 a barrel. A wider discount typically makes U.S.-linked crudes more attractive to foreign buyers.
Analysts also said they expect voluntary output cuts by The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, at the beginning of May to boost U.S. crude exports.
However, weaker price for Middle Eastern grades like Murban may see Asian refiners snapping up more of those grades instead of U.S. oil. Saudi Arabia also cut the price of its June flagship crude to Asian buyers for the first time in four months.
In refining news, Motiva Enterprises began restarting the small coker at its 626,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas refinery, sources said. Western U.S. refiner HF Sinclair is performing a planned overhaul at its 75,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Sinclair, Wyoming refinery, the company said.
* Light Louisiana Sweet for June delivery gained 20 cents to a midpoint of a $2.10 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $1.90 and $2.30 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures ?
* Mars Sour gained 15 cents to a midpoint of a $1
discount and was seen bid and offered between a $1.20 and
80-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures
* WTI Midland gained 15 cents to a midpoint of a
85-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a 60-cent
and $1.10 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures
* West Texas Sour gained 35 cents to a midpoint
of a 20-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between ?
discount of 40 cents and parity to U.S. crude futures
* WTI at East Houston , also known as MEH, traded
between a 85-cent and $1.25 a barrel premium to U.S. crude
futures ?
* ICE Brent July futures rose 17 cents to settle at $72.5 a barrel on Thursday?.
* WTI June crude futures fell 4 cents to settle at $68.56 a barrel on Thursday?.
* The Brent/WTI spread widened to minus $3.91, after hitting a high of minus $3.81 and a low of minus $4.05. (Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by David Gregorio)
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