Meanwhile, a total of 17 commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on the weekend, down from 37 a week earlier, shipping data showed on Monday, as tension in the Gulf persisted with the US and Iran in stalemate.
Bank Barclays said oil prices could potentially rise another 50% from current levels before markets reach an organic balance if the Middle East situation persists.
Adding to supply tightness, Libya's Sharara oilfield has seen a partial reduction in production, National Oil Corporation Chair Massoud Suleman told Reuters on Monday. Production at the field has fallen by around 200,000 barrels per day and is currently between 100,000 and 105,000 bpd, two engineers at the field told Reuters.
US inventories, production and refining
Meanwhile, in the US, stocks of crude oil in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell to 284.6 million barrels last week, the lowest level since October 1982, according to data from the Department of Energy.
Oil production in North Dakota rose 2,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) to 1,157,000 bpd in July, monthly data from the state Industrial Commission showed.
On the refining side, the restart of key units at Exxon Mobil's XOM.N 275,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Joliet, Illinois, was in progress one week after plant-wide shutdown due to power outage, consultancy Wood Mackenzie said on Monday.
Cash crude differentials and futures settlement
Light Louisiana Sweet for October delivery eased to a midpoint of a $2.50 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $2.00 and $3.00 a barrel premium to US crude futures CLc1
Mars Sour eased to a midpoint of a 60-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a $1.00 and 20-cent a barrel discount to US crude futures CLc1
West Texas Sour eased 60 cents to a midpoint of a $2 discount and was seen bid and offered between a $2.25 and $1.75 a barrel discount to US crude futures CLc1
WTI Midland eased 35 cents to a midpoint of a 50-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a 25-cent and 75-cent a barrel premium to US crude futures CLc1
WTI at East Houston, also known as MEH, traded between a 85-cent and $1.25 a barrel premium to US crude futures CLc1
ICE Brent November futures LCOc1 fell $3.53 to settle at $100.34 a barrel on Monday
WTI October crude CLc1 futures fell $4.52 to settle at $95.78 a barrel on Monday
The Brent/WTI spread widened 31 cents to last trade at minus $8.10, after hitting a high of minus $7.50 and a low of minus $8.10.
Cash crude grades ease as Middle East supply fears soften
HOUSTON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Grades broadly fell on Monday, dealers said, on hopes of supply disruptions in the Middle East easing.
Saudi Aramco 2222.SE loaded about 14 million barrels of crude oil on seven supertankers inside the Mideast Gulf on Sunday, data from TankerTrackers.com showed, as the kingdom increased loadings from Gulf export terminals after an attack disrupted shipments via its east-west pipeline to the Red Sea.
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