Grades mixed as domestic supply, demand rise

Grades were mixed on Thursday, dealers said, as domestic stocks increased while refinery demand is also expected to rise.

U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose unexpectedly last week, while gasoline drew down on the back of strong driving demand ahead of the July 4 weekend.

Crude inventories rose by 7.1 million barrels to 426 million barrels in the week ended July 4, the Energy Information Administration said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.1 million-barrel draw.

U.S. oil refiners are expected to have about 113,000 barrels per day of capacity offline in the week ending July 11, increasing available refining capacity by 56,000 bpd, research company IIR Energy said.

Offline capacity is expected to rise to 171,000 bpd in the week ending July 18, IIR added.

* Light Louisiana Sweet (WTC-LLS) for August delivery rose 5 cents to a midpoint of a $2.80 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $2.60 and $3.00 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CL1!

* Mars Sour (WTC-MRS) rose 10 cents to a midpoint of parity and was seen bid and offered between a discount of 10 cents and 10-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CL1!

* WTI Midland (WTC-WTM) fell 10 cents to a midpoint of a 45-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a 35-cent and 55-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CL1!

* West Texas Sour (WTC-WTS) fell 10 cents to a midpoint of a 5-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a discount of 15 cents and 5-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CL1!

* WTI at East Houston (WTC-MEH), also known as MEH, traded between a 60-cent and 80-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CL1!

* ICE Brent September futures BRN1! rose 4 cents to settle at $70.19 a barrel

* WTI August crude CL1! futures rose 5 cents to settle at $68.38 a barrel

* The Brent/WTI spread (WTCLc1-LCOc1) widened 3 cents to last trade at minus $3.20, after hitting a high of minus $3.14 and a low of minus $3.24