October cash prices for nearly all U.S. crude grades east of the Rocky Mountains came under heavy pressure Wednesday as the October/November West Texas Intermediate crude spread at Cushing, Okla., widened 26 cents to settle at $1.12 in favor of October. "Under normal trading situations, crude grades weaken when the front to back WTI spread widens," a broker said.
LLS traded at discounts of 20-55c to WTI, much weaker than Tuesday's range of deals at discounts of 5-20c. HLS traded at discounts of 55c-$1.00 to WTI, down from deals Tuesday at discounts of 30-50c. In other low-sulfur deals, WTI/Midland traded at discounts of 27-34c to benchmark WTI/Cushing, compared with deals Tuesday at discounts of 25-26c.
Postings-Plus WTI traded at premiums of $4.00-$4.31, compared with deals Tuesday at premiums of $3.95-3.99 as the Oct/Nov WTI spread jumped 26c, to around $1.12 in favor of October WTI, and as Koch Oil cut its WTI posting 25c to $31.00.
In sweet crude futures, NYMEX Oct WTI settled down 46c at $33.82 a barrel as the possibility of crude sales from the SPR increased.
Nov WTI settled down 80c at $33.42 a barrel. IPE Oct Brent futures settled down $1.14 at $32.48 a barrel.
In high-sulfur deals, WTS traded at discounts of $1.65-$1.95 to WTI/Cushing, compared with deals on Tuesday at discounts of $1.68-1.70.
Mars sour traded at discounts of $4.65-4.75 to WTI, down from talks on Tuesday at discounts of only $4.35-4.40.
( petroleumworld )
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
