NEW YORK, Jan 21 (Reuters) - U.S. cash crude differentials
weakened Wednesday as futures time spreads narrowed and traders
had less incentive to buy barrels for storage.
Among the biggest movers, Light Louisiana Sweet gave up $5.25 to sell for $1.50 a barrel over WTI. Mars sour lost $3.00 to trade for -$1.00.
The front-month futures spread narrowed during the day from -$3.56 to -$2.09 as March WTI surged $2.71, or 6.6 percent, to close at $43.55.
A stronger front-month usually means weaker cash crudes.
Cash crude differentials had strengthened sharply against the benchmark over the last few weeks on concerns that inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for West Texas Intermediate futures contracts, were near capacity.
But officials at NYMEX told Reuters they believed the storage hub had room for at least an additional 5 million barrels of crude oil.
The Energy Information Administration releases its weekly stocks data at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) Thursday.
Among other cash crudes, Heavy Louisiana Sweet weakened as much as $4.75 to trade at $1.00 under WTI, down from $3.75 above on Tuesday.
There were March cash deals for Mars at $1.00 below WTI, down $1.50 from 50 cents above on Tuesday.
West Texas Sour lost 50 cents to change hands at -$2.50. WTI at Midland dealt for -30 cents, little changed from Tuesday, when it traded in the range of -35 cents.
Poseidon sour dealt for -$1.00, or $2.75 weaker than Tuesday.
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DATA LINKS: Energy Speed Guide Crude Speed Guide NYMEX WTI futures ICE Brent futures US crude prices US crude differentials Freight rates
NEWS LINKS: NYMEX Market reports ICE market reports US Cash crude deals Foreign crude deals Dirty tanker news Dirty tanker fixtures Weekly US oil data US crude outlook US Refinery outages US Cash oil products US products outlook ............................................................
(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.
Among the biggest movers, Light Louisiana Sweet gave up $5.25 to sell for $1.50 a barrel over WTI. Mars sour lost $3.00 to trade for -$1.00.
The front-month futures spread narrowed during the day from -$3.56 to -$2.09 as March WTI surged $2.71, or 6.6 percent, to close at $43.55.
A stronger front-month usually means weaker cash crudes.
Cash crude differentials had strengthened sharply against the benchmark over the last few weeks on concerns that inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for West Texas Intermediate futures contracts, were near capacity.
But officials at NYMEX told Reuters they believed the storage hub had room for at least an additional 5 million barrels of crude oil.
The Energy Information Administration releases its weekly stocks data at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) Thursday.
Among other cash crudes, Heavy Louisiana Sweet weakened as much as $4.75 to trade at $1.00 under WTI, down from $3.75 above on Tuesday.
There were March cash deals for Mars at $1.00 below WTI, down $1.50 from 50 cents above on Tuesday.
West Texas Sour lost 50 cents to change hands at -$2.50. WTI at Midland dealt for -30 cents, little changed from Tuesday, when it traded in the range of -35 cents.
Poseidon sour dealt for -$1.00, or $2.75 weaker than Tuesday.
==============================================================
DATA LINKS: Energy Speed Guide Crude Speed Guide NYMEX WTI futures ICE Brent futures US crude prices US crude differentials Freight rates
NEWS LINKS: NYMEX Market reports ICE market reports US Cash crude deals Foreign crude deals Dirty tanker news Dirty tanker fixtures Weekly US oil data US crude outlook US Refinery outages US Cash oil products US products outlook ............................................................
(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.