Light Louisiana Sweet for October delivery was unchanged 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 eased about $4 to a midpoint of a $4.50 discount and was seen bid and offered between a $4.75 and $4.25 a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures CLc1
WTI Midland firmed 10 cents 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 firmed 10 cents at a midpoint of a $1.90 discount and was seen bid and offered between a $2.10 and $1.70 a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures CLc1
WTI at East Houston, also known as MEH, traded between a $1.00 and $1.40 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
ICE Brent November futures LCOc1 settled at $99.25 a barrel, down $1.09, or 1.09%
WTI November crude CLc1 futures settled at $94.95 a barrel, down $1.19, or 1.24%
The Brent/WTI spread widened to last trade at minus $8.73, after hitting a high of minus $8.04 and a low of minus $8.88
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
Coastal medium-sour crude grades weaken
HOUSTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Medium-sour coastal grades broadly fell on Tuesday, dealers said, amid weak prices for competing Canadian crude, easing supply constraints in the Middle East, and markets awaiting the release of more barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Mars dipped to a discount of $4.50 to U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude, the lowest since July, while Southern Green Canyon eased to a discount of $6.25.
SPR barrels, freight costs and benchmark crude settlement
In the United States, the Department of Energy is expected to offer some more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The department has loaned out about 132 million barrels of oil as part of its promise to release 172 million barrels, with the additional barrels expected to be offered soon.
High freight rates have also curbed demand for oil for exports. Global oil trading firms Vitol and Trafigura are pushing for steeper discounts on Venezuelan crude oil as rising freight rates shrink their margins, sources said.
Refinery outages and Middle East supply updates pressure differentials
Prices for Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 have widened in recent days after Exxon Mobil's XOM.N 264,000-barrel-per-day Joliet, Illinois refinery went offline. The plant was restarting key units on Monday.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has restarted operations at its East-West Pipeline and could resume exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu later on Tuesday, three sources briefed on the matter said, as signs mounted of increased Middle Eastern oil flows. Saudi Aramco was also offering prompt oil cargoes through negotiations to lift from locations outside the Strait of Hormuz, sources said.
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