US Cash Crude-Mars firms as tropical storm forces shut-ins of Gulf of Mexico output
Nov 5 (Reuters) -Mars Sour crude prices strengthened for a second straight session on Tuesday, dealers said, as oil producers began shutting in U.S. Gulf of Mexico output and pulling workers off platforms ahead of a late hurricane season storm threatening offshore fields.
Mars Sour WTC-MRS strengthened 25 cents to a midpoint of a 75-cent discount to U.S. crude futures CLc1. It had firmed 30 cents on Monday.
Tropical Storm Rafael was forecast to become a Category 1 hurricane by early Wednesday and also closed inbound vessel traffic to the port of Freeport in south Texas.
The US Coast Guard on Monday declared condition 'whiskey' at some ports in Florida including Tampa and St Petersburg, which means vessels must indicate location ahead of the storm and make preparations to dock or leave in the coming day, as gale force winds were expected within 72 hours.
Meanwhile, top oil exporter Saudi Arabia cut the price for the flagship Arab light crude it sells to Asia in December by 50 cents, largely in line with expectations, Saudi Aramco 2223.SE said in a statement on Tuesday. Availability of cheap Saudi Arabian crude could limit Asian refiners' appetite for U.S. crude.
In refining news, the hydrocracker at Marathon Petroleum's MPC.N 631,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, was operating at reduced production levels on Tuesday, sources said.
Marathon Petroleum, the largest U.S. crude oil refiner, plans to operate its 13 refineries at 90% of combined capacity of 2.95 million barrels per day (bpd) in the currentquarter, the company said.
* Light Louisiana Sweet WTC-LLS for December delivery was unchanged at a midpoint of a $1.80 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $1.60 and $2.00 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* Mars Sour WTC-MRS firmed 25 cents to a midpoint of a 75-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a $1.00 and 50-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* WTI Midland WTC-WTM was unchanged at a midpoint of a 65-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a 55-cent and 75-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* West Texas Sour WTC-WTS eased 20 cents to a midpoint of a 80-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a $1.25 and 35-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* WTI at East Houston WTC-MEH, also known as MEH, traded between a $1.05 and $1.25 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* ICE Brent January futures LCOc1 rose 45 cents to settle at $75.53 a barrel on Tuesday .
* WTI December crude CLc1 futures rose 52 cents to settle at $71.99 a barrel on Tuesday .
* The Brent/WTI spread WTCLc1-LCOc1 narrowed 9 cents to to last trade at minus $3.96, after hitting a high of minus $3.94 and a low of minus $4.05.
Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Richard Chang
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