U.S. Cash Crude-Grades steady as WTI/Brent spread holds

Big Sky Industrial

06/07/2021 21:58

July 6 (Reuters) - U.S. cash crude differentials were mostly
steady on Tuesday as the discount for U.S. crude futures to
Brent was little changed, dealers said.
    Coastal grades were mixed, with Mars crude unchanged and
Louisiana Light Sweet (LLS) and WTI at East Houston
strengthening. 
    The discount of U.S. crude oil futures to Brent futures
 WTCLc1-LCOc1  remained under $2 and was near its tightest in
months.
    On Monday, OPEC producers canceled a meeting when major
players were unable to come to an agreement to increase supply.
Initially, oil rallied to multi-year highs on news of the
breakdown in talks, but prices retreated as traders focused on
the possibility that the strife will cause some national
producers to open the taps and start exporting more barrels.
 O/R  
    The narrow discount, which generally discourages
international buyers of domestic crude, has weighed on U.S. Gulf
Coast crude oil grades, including Mars Sour crude, as imports
and exports have both remained strong.   urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2OC47H
    Exports are mirroring a similar trend to imports, closing
out June at their strongest pace in 15 months at 3.2 million
bpd, according to ClipperData. Flows bound for Europe have
finished well above the 1 million bpd mark for a third
consecutive month, while June's strength is also due to
rebounding Asian demand, the firm said in a note. 
    Meanwhile, inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, rose slightly
after rapid declines. Stockpiles at the delivery point for
benchmark futures climbed by about 171,000 in the week to
Friday, traders said citing data from Wood Mackenzie.    
    The U.S. crude markets were closed on Monday in observance
of the Fourth of July holiday.
    
    * Light Louisiana Sweet  WTC-LLS  for August delivery rose 5
cents to a midpoint of 70 cents and traded between 50 cents and
90 cents a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures  CLc1 .        
    * Mars Sour  WTC-MRS  was unchanged at a midpoint of $2.05 a
barrel discount, trading between $2.10 and $2 a barrel discount
to U.S. crude futures  CLc1 .        
    * WTI Midland  WTC-WTM  rose 20 cents to a midpoint of 15
cents and traded between 5 cents and 25 cents a barrel premium
to U.S. crude futures  CLc1 .     
    * West Texas Sour  WTC-WTS  was unchanged at a midpoint of
10 cents a barrel discount, traded between a 20-cent a barrel
discount and parity to U.S. crude futures  CLc1 .       
    * WTI at East Houston, also known as MEH,  WTC-MEH  traded
at 40 cents a barrel over WTI.     
    * ICE Brent September  LCOc1  futures fell $2.63 to settle
at $74.53 a barrel.
    * WTI August crude  CLc1  futures fell $1.79 to settle at
$73.37 a barrel.
    * The September Brent/WTI spread  WTCLc1-LCOc1  widened to
settle at minus $1.95 from about minus $1.81 on Friday. 

 (Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; Editing by
David Gregorio)
 ((devika.kumar@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6059; Reuters
Messaging: devika.kumar.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))