In the past two weeks, the price differential for Mars sour crude oil that is delivered from Gulf Coast offshore producing platforms via the Mars pipeline to Clovelly, LA has surged above $1.00/bbl and reached as high as $2.00/bbl on February 3rd (green dashed oval in chart below). As discussed in RBN’s TradeView report, this is the best string of differentials since a few days in December (black dashed oval) in which physical short covering forced prices on December 18th to a peak of $3/bbl over the price of NYMEX-CME Domestic Sweet (DSW) – the commonly quoted prompt month futures contract price of crude oil. The latest round of price strength comes after several months of weakness (red dashed rectangle) due to slack demand from domestic refiners due to poor margins and tepid demand for export. Mars is an important price marker for medium sour crude produced in the offshore Gulf and is often seen as a barometer to assess the supply availability of other imported sour crudes such as those from Canada, Mexico and the Middle East.
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- Analyst Insight
Gulf Coast Sour Crude Price Differential Hits Near Five-Year High on Tariff Turbulence
Last week, the price differential for Mars, the Gulf Coast sour crude benchmark, hit its highest level since the bad days of COVID nearly five years ago. Tariff news and the elimination of Venezuelan heavy oil imports to the US were the drivers of the latest price peak.
- Analyst Insight
Gulf Coast Sour Crude Price Differential Holds Positive Despite Market Turbulence
Gulf Coast Mars sour crude continues to hold at a positive differential to NYMEX WTI prices in a sign of tight sour crude supplies in the region.
- Analyst Insight
Gulf Coast Sour Crude Price Differential Collapses at the End of July
The price differential for Mars sour crude collapsed late in July and may remain under negative pressures in the months ahead.
