U.S. Cash Crude – Grades down with weaker arb

Light Louisiana Sweet fell on Monday as the benchmark West Texas Intermediate against Brent spread moved in sharply, weighing down crude grade prices.

LLS sold for $18.60 a barrel over WTI , down $1.25 from the end of Friday. Bonito dealt for $17.35, down 10 cents from Friday.

Late on Monday morning, the WTI-Brent spread stood at $16.59 a barrel in favor of Brent, narrowing from $18.34 at the open of trade.

Trade was expected to be relatively volatile and low-volume as large futures market player, MF Global filed for bankruptcy, leaving uncertainty about what will happen to its clients.

"I believe some of the hedge funds play domestic grades and the NYMEX so they may be locked out of any hedges they may have used with MF," said John Troland, an independent oil adviser based in Houston.

On futures markets at midday, December Brent stood down 64 cents at $109.27 a barrel. December WTI was down 91 cents at $92.42 a barrel.