NEW YORK, Oct 16 (Reuters) - U.S. cash crude grades were little changed Friday as crude futures rose to a fresh 12-month high, with refiners still wary of snapping up physical cargoes amid poor margins.
Light Louisiana Sweet fell 10 cents to trade for 70 cents a barrel above West Texas Intermediate. Mars sour, rose 10 cents to $3.70 below WTI.
On futures markets, November WTI surged by $1.05 a barrel in post-settlement trade to $78.63, after settling at the highest level in more than a year.
The futures rally came after U.S. inventory data Thursday showed the biggest weekly drop in gasoline stocks in more than a year last week, when inventories shrank by 5.2 million barrels.
However, rising fuel demand doesn't account for the draw.Refiners are allowing stocks to draw down without accelerating their runs, as evidenced by a recently sharp fall in utilization rates and in gasoline production.
November Brent expired at a $2.00 a barrel discount to WTI. The discrepancy between the benchmark futures opens an arbitrage window for more foreign grades to be shipped to the United States.
November WTI futures traded at a 47 cent a barrel discount to December barrels, down from a 49 cent a barrel discount Thursday.
As oil futures have risen by 12.9 percent, or nearly $9 a barrel, since Oct. 7, some physical market players question whether the rally is warranted by fundamentals.
Total crude and product stocks in the United States, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, remain near 1.1 billion barrels, well above their 976 million barrel level during the same week of 2008, according to EIA data.
Among other cash grades, West Texas Sour traded for -$2.70 a barrel, down 10 cents. WTI at Midland sold for -50 cents, down 6 cents a barrel.
Thunder Horse rose 15 cents a barrel to trade for -$1.30. Poseidon traded for -$3.60, even with Thursday. Heavy Louisiana Sweet traded for -90 cents, down 15 cents a barrel since Oct. 13.
On the West Coast, Alaska North Slope crude last sold on Wednesday at $2.00 per barrel under West Texas Intermediate.
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 fell 10 cents to trade for 70 cents a barrel above West Texas Intermediate. Mars sour, rose 10 cents to $3.70 below WTI.
On futures markets, November WTI surged by $1.05 a barrel in post-settlement trade to $78.63, after settling at the highest level in more than a year.
The futures rally came after U.S. inventory data Thursday showed the biggest weekly drop in gasoline stocks in more than a year last week, when inventories shrank by 5.2 million barrels.
However, rising fuel demand doesn't account for the draw.Refiners are allowing stocks to draw down without accelerating their runs, as evidenced by a recently sharp fall in utilization rates and in gasoline production.
November Brent expired at a $2.00 a barrel discount to WTI. The discrepancy between the benchmark futures opens an arbitrage window for more foreign grades to be shipped to the United States.
November WTI futures traded at a 47 cent a barrel discount to December barrels, down from a 49 cent a barrel discount Thursday.
As oil futures have risen by 12.9 percent, or nearly $9 a barrel, since Oct. 7, some physical market players question whether the rally is warranted by fundamentals.
Total crude and product stocks in the United States, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, remain near 1.1 billion barrels, well above their 976 million barrel level during the same week of 2008, according to EIA data.
Among other cash grades, West Texas Sour traded for -$2.70 a barrel, down 10 cents. WTI at Midland sold for -50 cents, down 6 cents a barrel.
Thunder Horse rose 15 cents a barrel to trade for -$1.30. Poseidon traded for -$3.60, even with Thursday. Heavy Louisiana Sweet traded for -90 cents, down 15 cents a barrel since Oct. 13.
On the West Coast, Alaska North Slope crude last sold on Wednesday at $2.00 per barrel under West Texas Intermediate.
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.
© 2009 AFX News
