US Cash Crude-Grades tick higher as Hurricane Helene approaches Florida
Sept 25 (Reuters) -Cash crude grades rose on Wednesday, dealers said, as domestic stocks fell and offshore operators shut in production in advance of Hurricane Helene's landfall on the Florida coast on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Wednesday marked the third and final day of the roll trade period, used by traders to square their positions and manage exposure.
About 29% of crude production and 17% of natural gas output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico were shut in response to Helene, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said.
Energy producers had shut-in 511,000 barrels per day of oil production and nearly 313 million cubic feet of natural gas from Gulf waters, the bureau added.
Further tightening domestic supplies, U.S. oil inventories fell across the board last week, the Energy Information Administration said, drawing down more than expected and with crude oil stockpiles hitting their lowest level in nearly 2-1/2 years.
Crude stocks dropped by 4.5 million barrels to 413 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 20, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.4 million-barrel draw.
U.S. oil refiners are expected to have about 1.03 million bpd of capacity offline in the week ending Sept. 27, decreasing available refining capacity by 36,000 bpd, research company IIR Energy said.
Offline capacity is expected to rise to 1.09 million bpd in the week ending Oct. 4, IIR added.
* Light Louisiana Sweet WTC-LLS for October delivery gained 50 cents at a midpoint of a $2.50 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $2.40 and $2.60 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* Mars Sour WTC-MRS gained 10 cents at a midpoint of a $1.60 discount and was seen bid and offered between a $1.70 and $1.50 a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* WTI Midland WTC-WTM gained 40 cents at a midpoint of a 95-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a 85-cent and $1.05 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* West Texas Sour WTC-WTS gained 25 cents at a midpoint of a 15-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a discount of 50 cents and 20-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* WTI at East Houston WTC-MEH, also known as MEH, traded between a $1.70 and $1.90 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* ICE Brent November futures LCOc1 fell $1.71 to settle at $73.46 a barrel
* WTI November crude CLc1 futures fell $1.87 to settle at $69.69 a barrel
* The Brent/WTI spread WTCLc1-LCOc1 widened last to minus $3.61, after hitting a high of minus $3.61 and a low of minus $3.83.
Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston
Editing by Marguerita Choy
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