Coastal grades fall, inland crudes steady

Offshore crudes grades slipped on Monday while inland grades were steady, dealers said.

Mars Sour (WTC-MRS) fell 5 cents to a midpoint of a 10-cent premium to U.S. crude futures.

A zinc contamination has been identified in the Mars crude oil stream in recent days.

The U.S. Department of Energy on Friday said it would provide up to 1 million barrels of crude oil from the government's emergency reserve to Exxon Mobil's XOM Baton Rouge refinery in Louisiana, citing an offshore supply disruption.

U.S. oil refiners are expected to have about 171,000 barrels per day of capacity offline in the week ending July 18, increasing available refining capacity by 24,000 bpd, research company IIR Energy said on Monday.

Offline capacity is expected to remain at 171,000 bpd in the week ending July 25, IIR added.

U.S. crude futures' discount to Brent widened to as much as minus $3.41, its most in 10 days. A wider spread makes U.S. grades more attractive to foreign buyers.

Meanwhile, hardline Iranian lawmaker Esmail Kosari said any closure of the Strait of Hormuz was still under review but no decision has yet been made, in comments carried by Iran's state media.

About one-fifth of global oil and gas shipments pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

* Light Louisiana Sweet (WTC-LLS) for August delivery fell 5 cents to a midpoint of a $2.70 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $2.60 and $2.80 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CL1!

* Mars Sour (WTC-MRS) fell 5 cents to a midpoint of a 10-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between parity and 20-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CL1!

* WTI Midland (WTC-WTM) was steady at a midpoint of a 50-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a 40-cent and 60-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CL1!

* West Texas Sour (WTC-WTS) was steady at 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 70-cent and 90-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CL1!

* ICE Brent September futures BRN1! fell $1.15 to settle at $69.21 a barrel

* WTI August crude CL1! futures fell $1.47 to settle at $66.98 a barrel

* The Brent/WTI spread (WTCLc1-LCOc1) widened 6 cents to last trade at minus $3.38, after hitting a high of minus $3.31 and a low of minus $3.41