Grades broadly fall as fears of supply disruption in Mideast fade

Physically traded U.S. grades mostly fell on Friday, dealers said, with some offshore grades bucking the broader downward trend.

Supply concerns resulting from Middle East tensions have likely eased as Israel and Hamas consider a temporary ceasefire and hold talks with international mediators.

Meanwhile, U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for a second week in a row, an early indicator of future output, to the lowest since January 2022, energy services firm Baker Hughes BKR said in its closely followed report on Friday.

Baker Hughes said oil rigs fell seven to 499 this week, in the biggest weekly drop since November 2023.

U.S. oil refiners are expected to have about 1.01 million barrels per day (bpd) of capacity offline in the week ending May 3, increasing available refining capacity by 144,000 bpd, research company IIR Energy said on Friday.

Offline capacity is expected to fall to 724,000 bpd in the week ending May 10 and further to 545,000 bpd in the subsequent week, IIR added.

* Light Louisiana Sweet (WTC-LLS) for June delivery fell 80 cents to a midpoint of a $3.80 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $3.50 and $4.10 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CL1! ​

* Mars Sour (WTC-MRS) was unchanged at a midpoint of a 30-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a 20-cent and 40-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CL1! ​

* WTI Midland (WTC-WTM) was unchanged at a midpoint of a 75-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a 80-cent and $1.00 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CL1! ​

* West Texas Sour (WTC-WTS) fell 0.5 cents to a midpoint of a 43-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a 60-cent and 25-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures CL1! ​

* WTI at East Houston (WTC-MEH), also known as MEH, traded between a $1.85 and $2.05 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CL1! ​

* ICE Brent July futures BRN1! fell 71 cents to settle at $82.96 a barrel.

* WTI June crude CL1! futures fell 84 cents to settle at $78.11 a barrel.

* The Brent/WTI spread (WTCLc1-LCOc1) narrowed last to minus $5.19, after hitting a high of minus $5.10 and a low of minus $5.25.