NEW YORK, Dec 9 (Reuters) - U.S. cash crudes weakened against futures as the contango in futures markets lessened on Wednesday and the gap between WTI and Brent oil narrowed.
Mars sour traded even with West Texas Intermediate , down as much as 25 cents a barrel from Tuesday. Mars, which is heavier and more acidic than WTI, had traded at a rare 40 cent premium to the U.S. benchmark grade on Monday.
Light Louisiana Sweet traded for $4.00 a barrel above WTI, down from +$4.40 on Tuesday.
U.S. crude stocks fell in the week through December 4, by 3.8 million barrels to 336.1 million barrels, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday. Meanwhile, stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI futures, rose by 2.4 million barrels last week, EIA said.
Cash crudes were bid down on Wednesday since an overall drop in U.S. crude stocks helped to lessen a contango in WTI and narrow its discount to Europe's Brent, traders said.
U.S. oil futures fell $1.95 a barrel after settlement to $70.67 a barrel, while Brent plunged $2.74 a barrel to $72.45 a barrel. The front-month to second-month discount for WTI narrowed to $1.87 a barrel, down from $2.00 a barrel on Tuesday .
Among other cash grades, Heavy Louisiana Sweet sold for $2.10 a barrel above WTI, down from as much as +$2.60 on Tuesday.
In the Midcontinent, WTI at Midland dealt for as much as 55 cents above WTI futures, up 15 cents. West Texas Sour dealt for -$1.65, down 20 cents since Monday.
Alaska North Slope crude oil for January delivery sold Wednesday for 75 cents a barrel under West Texas Intermediate, up 15 cents from its previous trade.
California buyers lowered their posted prices by $1.95 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; Editing by David Gregorio)
((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.
Mars sour traded even with West Texas Intermediate , down as much as 25 cents a barrel from Tuesday. Mars, which is heavier and more acidic than WTI, had traded at a rare 40 cent premium to the U.S. benchmark grade on Monday.
Light Louisiana Sweet traded for $4.00 a barrel above WTI, down from +$4.40 on Tuesday.
U.S. crude stocks fell in the week through December 4, by 3.8 million barrels to 336.1 million barrels, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday. Meanwhile, stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI futures, rose by 2.4 million barrels last week, EIA said.
Cash crudes were bid down on Wednesday since an overall drop in U.S. crude stocks helped to lessen a contango in WTI and narrow its discount to Europe's Brent, traders said.
U.S. oil futures fell $1.95 a barrel after settlement to $70.67 a barrel, while Brent plunged $2.74 a barrel to $72.45 a barrel. The front-month to second-month discount for WTI narrowed to $1.87 a barrel, down from $2.00 a barrel on Tuesday .
Among other cash grades, Heavy Louisiana Sweet sold for $2.10 a barrel above WTI, down from as much as +$2.60 on Tuesday.
In the Midcontinent, WTI at Midland dealt for as much as 55 cents above WTI futures, up 15 cents. West Texas Sour dealt for -$1.65, down 20 cents since Monday.
Alaska North Slope crude oil for January delivery sold Wednesday for 75 cents a barrel under West Texas Intermediate, up 15 cents from its previous trade.
California buyers lowered their posted prices by $1.95 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; Editing by David Gregorio)
((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.