U.S. grades were mixed on Friday, dealers said, as a lower rig count somewhat offset weaker refinery demand.

U.S. energy firms this week added oil and natural gas rigs for the second time in three weeks, energy services firm Baker Hughes said.

Baker Hughes said oil rigs fell by one to 477 this week, their lowest since December 2021.

On the refining side, U.S. oil refiners are expected to have about 573,000 barrels per day (bpd) of capacity offline in the week ending July 19, decreasing available refining capacity by 277,000 bpd, research company IIR Energy said.

Offline capacity is expected to fall to 288,000 bpd in the week ending July 26 and further to 122,000 in the subsequent week, IIR added.

Light Louisiana Sweet for August delivery gained 25 cents at a midpoint of a $2.50 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $2.00 and $3.00 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1

Mars Sour fell 35 cents at a midpoint of a $2.10 discount and was seen bid and offered between a $2.20 and $2.00 a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures CLc1

* WTI Midland WTC-WTM gained 15 cents at a midpoint of a 60-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a 50-cent and 70-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1

* West Texas Sour WTC-WTS fell 35 cents at a midpoint of a 65-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a 90-cent and 40-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures CLc1

* WTI at East Houston WTC-MEH, also known as MEH, traded between a 85-cent and $1.05 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1

* ICE Brent September futures LCOc1 fell $2.48 to settle at $82.63 a barrel

* WTI August crude CLc1 futures fell $2.69 to settle at $80.13 a barrel

* The Brent/WTI spread WTCLc1-LCOc1 widened last to minus $3.81, after hitting a high of minus $3.90 and a low of minus $4.07.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston, Editing by Marguerita Choy)