off-the-wire

US Cash Crude-Inland US grades firm as oil rigs fell by two

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters
May 12 (Reuters) - Inland U.S. grades firmed on Friday, as oil rigs fell by two, indicating tighter supply.


Inland grades WTI Midland firmed 20 cents while West Texas Sour firmed 10 cents. Coastal grade Mars Sour weakened to a 25-cent premium after touching a $1.60 premium on Tuesday, its highest since late 2020.


Light Louisiana Sweet , another coastal grade, also eased 65 cents. It had gained in recent days on continued shutdown of Shell's Zydeco oil pipeline. U.S. oil rig count, an indicator of future output, fell by two to 586 this week, the lowest since June 2022, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said. A recovery in Chinese demand has buoyed U.S. exports, with April exports to China touching nearly 900,000 barrels per day, the highest since May 2020.


In refining news, TotalEnergies 238,000 barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, refinery returned to normal operation on Friday after a power outage on Thursday, sources said. Marathon Petroleum Corp returned a hydrocracker to normal operation on Friday after a Thursday upset at its 593,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, sources said.


* Light Louisiana Sweet for June delivery fell 65 cents to a midpoint of a $2.50 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $2.25 and $2.75 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures ?


* Mars Sour fell 25 cents to a midpoint of a 25-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between parity and 50-cent? a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures ?


* WTI Midland gained 20 cents to 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 10 cents to a midpoint of a 15-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a 25-cent and 5-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 81 cents to settle at $74.17 a barrel on Friday?.


* WTI June crude futures fell 83 cents to settle at $70.04 a barrel on Friday?.


* The Brent/WTI spread widened 1 cent to minus $4.1, after hitting a high of minus $3.97 and a low of minus $4.14. (Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston Editing by Matthew Lewis)

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