U.S. Cash Crude-Grades broadly firm as crude stockpiles fall

US Physical Therapy

21/12/2022 21:08

Dec 21 (Reuters) - U.S. physical crude oil grades
broadly strengthened on Wednesday as crude stockpiles were seen
falling on the first day of the cash roll period, dealers said. 
    Coastal grades, including Light Louisiana Sweet crude and
Mars Sour crude, firmed the most to U.S. crude oil futures,
while inland grades such as WTI Midland held steady.
    Grades firmed as roll trade got underway following the
expiry of the U.S. crude futures contract for January
settlement. Prices to roll U.S. crude oil futures positions from
November to December traded at a midpoint of 15 cents a barrel.
    U.S. crude stocks fell more than expected in the latest week
as imports dropped sharply, the Energy Information
Administration.  EIA/S 
    Crude inventories dropped by 5.9 million barrels in the week
to Dec. 16 to 418.2 million barrels, compared with analysts'
expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.7 million-barrel drop.
    Net U.S. crude imports sank by 1.09 million barrels per day
(bpd) to 1.5 million bpd as the Keystone oil pipeline from
Canada through the U.S. remained shut after a spill earlier in
the month. 
    U.S. crude oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve dropped
3.6 million barrels last week to 378.6 million barrels, its
lowest since December 1983, the EIA also said.
    U.S. oil refiners are expected to have about 282,000 barrels
per day (bpd) of capacity offline for the week ending Dec. 23,
increasing available refining capacity by 316,000 bpd, research
company IIR Energy said.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N33B1ES
    Offline capacity is expected to fall to 73,000 bpd in the
week ending Dec. 30, IIR added.
    * Light Louisiana Sweet  WTC-LLS  for January delivery rose
45 cents to a midpoint of $2.25 and traded between a $2 and
$2.50 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures  CLc1 .    
    * Mars Sour  WTC-MRS  rose 35 cents to a midpoint of minus
$4.40 and traded between a $4.60 and $4.20 a barrel discount to
U.S. crude futures  CLc1 .    
    * WTI Midland  WTC-WTM  was unchanged at a midpoint of 50
cents and traded between a 40-cent and 60-cent a barrel premium
to U.S. crude futures  CLc1 .    
    * West Texas Sour  WTC-WTS  remained unchanged at a midpoint
of parity and was seen bid and offered between a 10-cent
discount and 10-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures
 CLc1 .    
    * WTI at East Houston, also known as MEH, traded at from 80
cents to $1.20 over WTI.   
    * ICE Brent February  LCOc1  futures rose $2.21 to settle at
$82.20 a barrel.
    * WTI February crude  CLc1  futures rose $2.06 to settle at
$78.29 a barrel.
    * The Brent/WTI spread  WTCLc1-LCOc1  widened 15 cents to
settle at minus $3.91, after hitting a high of minus $3.67 and a
low of minus $3.97.
 (Reporting by Laila Kearney in New York; Editing by David
Gregorio)
 ((Laila.kearney@thomsonreuters.com))