US Cash Crude-Grades mixed as Chevron resumes Venezuela oil exports to US

HOUSTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Grades were mixed on Monday, dealers said, as Chevron resumed oil exports from Venezuela to the U.S. while U.S. refining capacity ticked lower.

Chevron CVX.N the only U.S. oil major operating in Venezuela, is calling employees back to the South American country as its crude exports to the U.S. resume and it tries to secure normal operations, according to a source and shipping data.

An oil tanker chartered by Chevron carrying some 300,000 barrels of Venezuelan heavy crude bound for the U.S. Gulf Coast departed on Monday from the OPEC country's waters, shipping data showed. The company had not exported any cargoes since January 1.

About a dozen oil tankers loaded with Venezuelan crude and fuel have left the country's waters since the start of the year in apparent defiance of the U.S. government's blockade on exports, according to documents seen by Reuters and industry sources including monitoring service TankerTrackers.com.

Meanwhile, U.S. oil refiners are expected to have about 426,000 barrels per day of capacity offline in the week ending January 9, decreasing available refining capacity by 236,000 bpd, research company IIR Energy said.

Offline capacity is expected to rise to 873,000 in the week ending January 16, IIR said.

• Light Louisiana Sweet for February delivery was steady at a midpoint of a $1.45 premium and was seen bid and offered between a 90-cent and $2 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1 ​
• Mars Sour rose 25 cents to a midpoint of a $1.50 discount and was seen bid and offered between a $1.60 and $1.40 a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures CLc1 ​
• WTI Midland 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 CLc1 ​
• West Texas Sour fell 75 cents to a midpoint of a $2.25 discount and was seen bid and offered between a $2.35 and $2.15 a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures CLc1 ​
• WTI at East Houston , also known as MEH, traded between a 65-cent and 85-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1 ​
• ICE Brent March futures LCOc1 rose $1.01 to settle at $61.76 a barrel
• WTI February crude CLc1 futures rose $1 to settle at $58.32 a barrel
• The Brent/WTI spread widened 7 cents to last trade at minus $3.70, after hitting a high of minus $3.58 and a low of minus $3.70