Feb 26 (Reuters) - U.S. crude grades broadly rose on Wednesday, dealers said, after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the termination of an oil deal with Venezuela, boosting prices for medium sour grade, Mars.
Mars Sour crude rose by around 70 cents on the day to a $1.70 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1, marking the grade's largest daily rise in a month.
Trump said he was reversing a license given to Chevron CVX.N to operate in Venezuela by his predecessor Joe Biden more than two years ago, accusing Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro of not making progress on electoral reforms and migrant returns.
Venezuela's oil output in 2024 expanded to some 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) and exports rose 10.5% to around 772,000 bpd, mainly fueled by the U.S. licenses.
Meanwhile, refinery demand is set to grow. U.S. oil refiners are expected to have about 1.1 million bpd of capacity offline in the week ending February 28, increasing available refining capacity by 252,000 bpd, research company IIR Energy said.
On the domestic supply side, U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell unexpectedly last week as refining activity ticked higher, while gasoline and distillate inventories posted surprise builds, the Energy Information Administration $(EIA)$ said.
* Light Louisiana Sweet WTC-LLS for March rose 40 cents to a midpoint of a $3.20 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $3.00 and $3.40 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* Mars Sour WTC-MRS rose 72 cents to a midpoint of a $1.70 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $1.60 and $1.80 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* WTI Midland WTC-WTM was steady at a midpoint of a $1.10 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $1.00 and $1.20 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* West Texas Sour WTC-WTS rose 40 cents to a midpoint of an 80-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a 60-cent and $1.00 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* WTI at East Houston WTC-MEH, also known as MEH, traded between a $1.25 and $1.45 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* ICE Brent April futures LCOc1 fell 49 cents to settle at $72.53 a barrel
* WTI April crude CLc1 futures fell 31 cents to settle at $68.62 a barrel
* The Brent/WTI spread WTCLc1-LCOc1 narrowed 16 cents to last trade at minus $3.93, after hitting a high of minus $3.89 and a low of minus $4.09
(Reporting by Georgina McCartney in HoustonEditing by Marguerita Choy)
((Georgina.McCartney@tr.com))
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