Aug 8 (Reuters) - Physically traded domestic U.S. crudes were largely unchanged on Thursday, dealers said, as the spread between U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude and Brent hovered close to $4.
WTI Midland WTC-WTM, WTI at East Houston WTC-MEH, also known as MEH, and Mars all traded at the same levels as Wednesday.
The WTI/Brent spread WTCLc1-LCOc1 eased 2 cents to trade at $4.10. A spread than minus $4 discourages foreign buying of US crude, while a spread above the level encourages purchases.
In refining, U.S. crude oil refiners are trimming third-quarter production plans, company executives said in recent earnings calls, as summer fuel demand ebbs and profit margins remain weak.
Meanwhile, Cenovus said its Toledo and Lima refineries in Ohio are set to resume planned production rates by the end of the weekend.
* Light Louisiana Sweet WTC-LLS for September delivery gained 55 cents at a midpoint of a $2.30 premium and was seen bid and offered between a $2.15 and $2.45 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* Mars Sour WTC-MRS was unchanged at a midpoint of a $1 discount and was seen bid and offered between a $1.20 and 80-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* WTI Midland WTC-WTM was unchanged at a midpoint of a 70-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a 50-cent and 90-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* West Texas Sour WTC-WTS gained 15 cents at a midpoint of a 10-cent premium and was seen bid and offered between a discount of 10 cents and 30-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* WTI at East Houston WTC-MEH, also known as MEH, traded between a $1.00 and $1.30 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1
* ICE Brent October futures LCOc1 rose 83 cents to settle at $79.16 a barrel on Thursday.
* WTI September crude CLc1 futures fell 21 cents and is currently trading at $75.98 a barrel on Thursday .
* The Brent/WTI spread WTCLc1-LCOc1 2 cents to minus $4.10, after hitting a high of minus $4.02 and a low of minus $4.17.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Jamie Freed and David Gregorio)
((Arathy.s@tr.com))