US Cash Crude-Grades steady as WTI/Brent spread falls below minus $4
Aug 19 (Reuters) -U.S. domestic grades were little changed on Monday, dealers said, as the spread between U.S. West Texas intermediate crude and Brent fell back under minus $4.
WTI Midland held steady, while Mars strengthened 5 cents. WTI at East Houston WTC-MEH, also known as MEH, firmed 10 cents.
The WTI/Brent spread WTCLc1-LCOc1 narrowed 15 cents to minus $3.99, after hitting a high of minus $3.95 and a low of minus $4.19.
A spread narrower than minus $4 discourages foreign buying of U.S. crude, while a spread wider than minus $4 encourages buying.
U.S. crude stockpiles were expected to have fallen by 2.9 million barrels last week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.
On the supply side, a looming labor dispute at Canada's two main railroads is unlikely to significantly reduce oil exports to the United States due to excess capacity on Trans Mountain and other pipelines, people close to the matter said.
Meanwhile, Iran has set the official selling price (OSP) for its light crude oil grade for Asian buyers at $2.35 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average for September, one source with knowledge of the matter said on Monday.
In refining news, U.S. oil refiners are expected to have about 389,000 barrels per day (bpd) of capacity offline in the week ending Aug. 23, increasing available refining capacity by 99,000 bpd, research company IIR Energy said on Monday.
* Light Louisiana Sweet WTC-LLS for September delivery was unchanged at a midpoint of a $1.25 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $1.00 and $1.50 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* Mars Sour WTC-MRS gained 5 cents at a midpoint of a $1.7 discount and was seen bid and offered between a $1.90 and $1.50 a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* WTI Midland WTC-WTM was unchanged at a midpoint of a 60-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a 40-cent and 80-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* West Texas Sour WTC-WTS fell 50 cents at a midpoint of a 50-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a 75-cent and 25-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* WTI at East Houston WTC-MEH, also known as MEH, traded between a $1.15 and $1.45 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* ICE Brent October futures LCOc1 fell $2.02 to settle at $77.66 a barrel on Monday.
* WTI September crude CLc1 futures fell $2.28 to settle at $74.37 a barrel on Monday .
* The Brent/WTI spread WTCLc1-LCOc1 narrowed 15 cents to minus $3.99, after hitting a high of minus $3.95 and a low of minus $4.19.
Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston, editing by Deepa Babington
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