U.S. grades mostly strengthened on Friday, the first day of September trade, dealers said.
Mars Sour gained 40 cents, while WTI at East Houston, also known as MEH, strengthened 20 cents. WTI Midland remained unchanged.
U.S. oil rigs, an indicator of future supply, rose by three in July, putting the count up for the first month since March, according to Baker Hughes’ rig count report.
Also on the supply side, wildfires continued to rage in Canada, threatening supply.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s major Dangote oil refinery is reselling cargoes of U.S. and Nigerian crude, four trade sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.
In refining news, U.S. oil refiners are expected to have about 671,000 barrels per day (bpd) of capacity offline in the week ending July 26, decreasing available refining capacity by 12,000 bpd, research company IIR Energy said on Friday.
Offline capacity is expected to fall to 504,000 bpd in the week ending Aug. 2 and further to 465,000 bpd in the subsequent week, IIR added.
Light Louisiana Sweet WTC-LLS for September delivery fell 50 cents to a midpoint of a $2.00 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $1.70 and $2.30 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures.
Mars Sour WTC-MRS gained 40 cents at a midpoint of a $1.2 discount and was seen bid and offered between a $1.40 and $1.00 a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures.
WTI Midland was unchanged at a midpoint of a 85-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a 70-cent and $1.00 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures.
West Texas Sour gained 65 cents at a midpoint of a parity and was seen bid and offered between a discount of 20 cents and 20-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures.
WTI at East Houston, also known as MEH, traded between a $1.00 and $1.40 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
ICE Brent September futures fell $1.24 to settle at $81.13 a barrel on Friday.
WTI September crude futures fell $1.12 to settle at $77.16 a barrel on Friday.
The Brent/WTI spread narrowed 3 cents to minus $4.06, after hitting a high of minus $3.93 and a low of minus $4.13.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Richard Chang)