NEW YORK, Oct 14 (Reuters) - U.S. cash crude grade differentials were nearly unchanged in thin trade on Wednesday as oil futures surged to a year-long high and refiners balked at buying more crude amid poor margins.
Light Louisiana Sweet traded even with Tuesday at 70 cents a barrel over West Texas Intermediate. Mars sour, fell 5 cents to sell for $3.70 below WTI.
On futures markets, November WTI gained as much as $1.37 a barrel to reach a yearlong high of $75.53 a barrel, in a fifth straight day of gains. November Brent gained 95 cents to $73.35 in post-settlement trade.
November WTI futures traded at a 42 cent a barrel discount to December barrels, up from a 53 cent discount Tuesday. Front-month WTI traded at a $2.06 a barrel premium to Brent, versus a $1.87 premium Tuesday.
U.S. refiners have remained slow to buy more crude oil as refining margins remain poor and fuel stocks high. Crude runs slipped in the week through Oct. 9 and refinery utilization fell 3.1 percentage points to 81.2 percent of capacity, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute late Wednesday.
U.S. commercial crude stocks fell last week, while imports also fell, API reported.
Among other cash grades, West Texas Sour traded for -$2.85 a barrel, down 5 cents from Tuesday. WTI at Midland sold for minus 42 cents, up a cent from Tuesday.
Thunder Horse traded even with Tuesday for -$1.40. Poseidon traded for -$3.60, up from -$3.80 earlier this week.
On the West Coast, Alaska North Slope crude sold unchanged on Wednesday at $2.00 per barrel under West Texas Intermediate. It had last sold Tuesday.
Buyers in California raised posted prices by $1.05 a barrel.
See for Reuters' generic refining margins
See for the WTI front/second month spread
See for front month WTI/Brent futures spread
See for Reuters' assessment of Dated Brent
See for Reuters assessed tanker rates
See for assessed domestic crude differentials
See for outright U.S. cash crude prices
See for a list of U.S. refinery outages
See for U.S. EIA inventory reports and forecasts
See for recent cash crude deals --------------------------------------------------------------
(Reporting by Joshua Schneyer)
((Email: joshua.schneyer@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646-223-6051; Reuters Messaging: joshua.schneyer.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: MARKETS USCRUDE (For help: Click 'Contact Us' in your desk top, click here or call 1-800-738-8377 for Reuters Products and 1-888-463-3383 for Thomson products; For client training: training.americas@thomsonreuters.com ; +1 646-223-5546) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Light Louisiana Sweet traded even with Tuesday at 70 cents a barrel over West Texas Intermediate. Mars sour, fell 5 cents to sell for $3.70 below WTI.
On futures markets, November WTI gained as much as $1.37 a barrel to reach a yearlong high of $75.53 a barrel, in a fifth straight day of gains. November Brent gained 95 cents to $73.35 in post-settlement trade.
November WTI futures traded at a 42 cent a barrel discount to December barrels, up from a 53 cent discount Tuesday. Front-month WTI traded at a $2.06 a barrel premium to Brent, versus a $1.87 premium Tuesday.
U.S. refiners have remained slow to buy more crude oil as refining margins remain poor and fuel stocks high. Crude runs slipped in the week through Oct. 9 and refinery utilization fell 3.1 percentage points to 81.2 percent of capacity, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute late Wednesday.
U.S. commercial crude stocks fell last week, while imports also fell, API reported.
Among other cash grades, West Texas Sour traded for -$2.85 a barrel, down 5 cents from Tuesday. WTI at Midland sold for minus 42 cents, up a cent from Tuesday.
Thunder Horse traded even with Tuesday for -$1.40. Poseidon traded for -$3.60, up from -$3.80 earlier this week.
On the West Coast, Alaska North Slope crude sold unchanged on Wednesday at $2.00 per barrel under West Texas Intermediate. It had last sold Tuesday.
Buyers in California raised posted prices by $1.05 a barrel.
See for Reuters' generic refining margins
See for the WTI front/second month spread
See for front month WTI/Brent futures spread
See for Reuters' assessment of Dated Brent
See for Reuters assessed tanker rates
See for assessed domestic crude differentials
See for outright U.S. cash crude prices
See for a list of U.S. refinery outages
See for U.S. EIA inventory reports and forecasts
See for recent cash crude deals --------------------------------------------------------------
(Reporting by Joshua Schneyer)
((Email: joshua.schneyer@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646-223-6051; Reuters Messaging: joshua.schneyer.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: MARKETS USCRUDE (For help: Click 'Contact Us' in your desk top, click here or call 1-800-738-8377 for Reuters Products and 1-888-463-3383 for Thomson products; For client training: training.americas@thomsonreuters.com ; +1 646-223-5546) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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