U.S. Cash Crude: U.S. inland grades strengthen on discount to Brent

U.S. inland crudes strengthened slightly Wednesday as the spread between the U.S. and global benchmarks widened, dealers said.

Trading activity has been limited in recent days due to the summer vacation, traders and brokers said.

Coastal grades such as Mars and Light Louisiana Sweet weakened as the spread between WTI futures and Brent widened to about $2.55 a barrel, remaining above its two-month low reached last week.

A wider spread between WTI and Brent typically makes U.S. crude-linked grades more attractive to foreign buyers and limits imports.

Benchmark U.S. crude futures fell by 3.2%, the third downward move this week, as concerns about the Delta variant of the coronavirus continued to weigh heavily on the market.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude stocks rose by an unexpected 3.6 million barrels last week, while gasoline inventories fell by a bigger-than-forecast 5.3 million barrels.

Inland grade WTI Midland firmed slightly, supported by the grade’s widening discount to Brent crude.

* Light Louisiana Sweet for September delivery fell 5 cents to a midpoint of 45 cents and traded between 25 cents and 65 cents a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures.

* Mars Sour rose 15 cents to a midpoint of -$2.20 and traded between a $2.30 and $2.10 a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures.

* WTI Midland rose 20 cents to a midpoint of -$0.10 and traded between a 20 cent discount to U.S. crude futures and at parity with the futures contract.

* West Texas Sour rose 10 cents to a midpoint of -$0.30 and traded between a 40 cent and 20 cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures.

* WTI at East Houston, also known as MEH, traded at a midpoint of 35 cents over WTI.

* ICE Brent October futures fell $2.12 to settle at $70.38 a barrel.

* WTI September crude futures fell $2.41 to settle at $68.15 a barrel on Wednesday.

* The Brent/WTI spread widened 17 cents to minus $2.59, after hitting a high of minus $2.42 and a low of minus $2.68.
Source: Reuters (Reporting By Jessica Resnick-Ault; Editing by Richard Pullin and Dan Grebler)