HOUSTON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - U.S. cash crude differentials ended at their strongest levels since May on Tuesday as October West Texas Intermediate expired down.
Mars sour led the pack, selling for $2.30 a barrel over WTI, up $1.05 since Monday's session. It usually sells at a discount to WTI.
Light Louisiana Sweet dealt for $6.80 over, up 45 cents, and Heavy Louisiana Sweet for $5.50 over, stronger by 25 cents.
The lingering effects of the Enbridge Inc Line 6A outage and an approaching cutoff date for monthly buying were key factors, said traders, brokers and analysts.
The deadline for scheduling pipeline shipments is Friday, after three days of 'roll' trade during which traders are allowed to deal against already expired October WTI.
It is a period often marked by volatility as buyers and sellers sometimes scramble to finish for the month.
The Enbridge pipeline outage, which lasted eight days before restart last Friday, roiled cash crude markets and triggered increased demand for Gulf Coast grades, analysts said.
On futures markets, October WTI expired at $73.52 a barrel. November Brent closed at $78.42, with the WTI-Brent spread widening to $3.59 from $3.13 at the end of Monday's session.
Weaker WTI against Brent tends to support cash crude differentials because physical grades complete with imports priced against Brent.
Alaska North Slope crude for October delivery last sold publicly for 25 cents under WTI Friday. The last announced deal for November delivery of ANS was done at $1 under Thursday.
Buyers cut posted prices for California crudes by $1.35 to $1.45 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 Bruce Nichols; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
((Email: b.nichols@thomsonreuters.com; +1 713 210 8510; Reuters Messaging: bruce.nichols.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 2010. 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 led the pack, selling for $2.30 a barrel over WTI, up $1.05 since Monday's session. It usually sells at a discount to WTI.
Light Louisiana Sweet dealt for $6.80 over, up 45 cents, and Heavy Louisiana Sweet for $5.50 over, stronger by 25 cents.
The lingering effects of the Enbridge Inc Line 6A outage and an approaching cutoff date for monthly buying were key factors, said traders, brokers and analysts.
The deadline for scheduling pipeline shipments is Friday, after three days of 'roll' trade during which traders are allowed to deal against already expired October WTI.
It is a period often marked by volatility as buyers and sellers sometimes scramble to finish for the month.
The Enbridge pipeline outage, which lasted eight days before restart last Friday, roiled cash crude markets and triggered increased demand for Gulf Coast grades, analysts said.
On futures markets, October WTI expired at $73.52 a barrel. November Brent closed at $78.42, with the WTI-Brent spread widening to $3.59 from $3.13 at the end of Monday's session.
Weaker WTI against Brent tends to support cash crude differentials because physical grades complete with imports priced against Brent.
Alaska North Slope crude for October delivery last sold publicly for 25 cents under WTI Friday. The last announced deal for November delivery of ANS was done at $1 under Thursday.
Buyers cut posted prices for California crudes by $1.35 to $1.45 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 Bruce Nichols; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
((Email: b.nichols@thomsonreuters.com; +1 713 210 8510; Reuters Messaging: bruce.nichols.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 2010. 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.