U.S. Gulf Coast Sweet Crudes Strengthen as WTI-Brent Gap Widens

U.S. Gulf Coast sweet oil premiums strengthened as West Texas Intermediate’s discount to Brent crude widened for the first time in five days.

The gap between WTI and Brent increased by 19 cents to $11.22 a barrel. When Brent rises versus WTI, it typically strengthens the value of U.S. grades that compete with foreign oils priced against the European benchmark.

Light Louisiana Sweet gained $1.40 to $15 a barrel over WTI at 3:36 p.m. in New York, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It’s the largest premium for the grade since May 9. Heavy Louisiana Sweet increased $1.25 to $13.75 over WTI.

Poseidon’s premium to WTI added 50 cents to $8 a barrel. Southern Green Canyon’s premium decreased 65 cents to $7.10. Mars Blend’s premium was unchanged at $9 a barrel.

Thunder Horse, a sour crude with lower sulfur content than Mars, Poseidon and Southern Green Canyon, added 35 cents to $11 a barrel over WTI.

Bakken oil’s discount was steady at $6 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark.

Syncrude’s discount was unchanged at $2.75 below WTI. Syncrude is a synthetic oil upgraded from tar-like bitumen in Alberta into refinery-ready crude.

Western Canada Select’s discount was steady at $23.50 a barrel.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Clark in New York at aclark27@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net