AUSTIN, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. crude grades were mixed on Friday, dealers said, after the move by President Donald Trump's administration to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian oil and as U.S. rig counts, an early indicator of future production, rose.
The U.S. on Friday issued a 30-day license for countries to buy Russian oil and petroleum products stranded at sea, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said was a step to stabilise global energy markets roiled by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. A Russian envoy said the move will affect 100 million barrels of oil, equal to almost a day's worth of global output.
On Wednesday, the International Energy Association said it would release 400 million barrels of oil from strategic petroleum stockpiles to combat rising oil prices with the U.S. taking a lead role by contributing 172 million barrels.
On Friday, sour crude grades pared gains they had made on expectations that they could be used to replenish the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Mars slipped by nearly half to about $5 a barrel.
A closely watched Baker Hughes report on Friday showed U.S. energy firms added oil and natural gas rigs for a second straight week. The increase marked the first time since early February that rig counts have risen for two consecutive weeks.
Separately, research company IIR Energy said U.S. oil refiners are expected to have about 0.97 million barrels per day of capacity offline in the week ending March 13, increasing available refining capacity by 250,000 bpd.
Light Louisiana Sweet for April delivery was steady at a midpoint of a $1.50 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $1.00 and $2.00 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
Mars Sour fell $4 to a midpoint of a $5 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $4.80 and $5.2 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
WTI Midland rose 15 cents to a midpoint of a 75-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a 70-cent and 80-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
West Texas Sour fell 15 cents to a midpoint of a $1.38 discount and was seen bid and offered between a $2.00 and 75-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures CLc1
WTI at East Houston , also known as MEH, traded between a $2.00 and $2.10 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
ICE Brent May futures LCOc1 rose $2.68 to settle at $103.14 a barrel on Friday.
WTI April crude CLc1 futures rose $2.98 to settle at $98.71 a barrel on Friday.
The Brent/WTI spread widened 40 cents to to last trade at minus $6.43, after hitting a high of minus $5.85 and a low of minus $6.78.
(Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in Austin; Editing by David Gregorio)
((Siddharth.Cavale@tr.com))