The differential for WTI Midland (WTC-WTM) versus U.S. crude futures flipped to a discount on Friday, dealers said, for the first time since December 2022.
WTI Midland fell 15 cents to a midpoint of a 5-cent discount.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for July, which did not settle on Thursday as it was a U.S. holiday, expired on Friday.
U.S. oil refiners are expected to have about 472,000 barrels per day of capacity offline in the week ending June 20, decreasing available refining capacity by 112,000 bpd, research company IIR Energy said.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s daily oil and gas condensate output is set to rise by 6% in June versus May, the Energy Ministry told Reuters and data from the national statistics bureau showed.
WTI at East Houston eased to trade at parity with U.S. crude futures, as the Brent/WTI spread traded at as little as minus $3.02 during the session.
A discount smaller than minus $4 typically disincentivizes export demand, as traders see a closed arbitrage window.
Curbing some losses, U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for an eighth week in a row for the first time since September 2023, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report.
Baker Hughes said oil rigs fell by one to 438 this week, their lowest since October 2021.
Light Louisiana Sweet (WTC-LLS) for July delivery rose 25 cents to a midpoint of a $2.50 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $2.40 and $2.60 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures
Mars Sour (WTC-MRS) fell 75 cents to a midpoint of a 80-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a 70-cent and 90-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures
WTI Midland (WTC-WTM) fell 15 cents to a midpoint of a 5-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a discount of 15 cents and 5-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures
West Texas Sour (WTC-WTS) fell 8 cents to a midpoint of a 83-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a 95-cent and 70-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures
WTI at East Houston (WTC-MEH), also known as MEH, traded between a discount of 10 cents and 10-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures
ICE Brent August futures fell $1.84 to settle at $77.01 a barrel
WTI July crude futures fell 21 cents to settle at $74.93 a barrel
The Brent/WTI spread was flat to last trade at minus $3.20, after hitting a high of minus $3.02 and a low of minus $3.36
Source: Reuters