* Crude futures post gains * Brent/U.S. crude spread narrows, ends below $9/bbl NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters) - Cash crude differentials in theUnited States were mostly weaker on Thursday as thetrans-Atlantic spread between Brent and U.S. crude futuresnarrowed, according to traders and brokers. Brent's premium to U.S. crude ended at $8.85 abarrel based on July contract settlements, after ending at $9.30on Wednesday. The spread has narrowed from $9.93 on Tuesday. The spread traded from $8.50 to $9.27 on Thursday, afterwidening to $10.01 intraday on Wednesday and $10.06 on Tuesday. Usually, the wider the arbitrage, the more supportive forU.S. cash crude differentials, while a narrower spread oftenpressures differentials. This holds especially true for sweetgrades that are priced in line with global waterborne crudessuch as Brent. The Brent-U.S. crude spread narrowed on Thursday afterGenscape reported that oil inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma,delivery hub fell by more than a million barrels between May 31and June 4. The Cushing hub is the delivery point for West TexasIntermediate (WTI), the U.S. light, sweet crude contract'sbenchmark grade. Crude oil futures rose on Thursday on news that Britain'slargest North Sea oilfield was shut down for the second time inless than a week and BP Plc announcing it expects aupgraded crude distillation unit at its Whiting, Indiana,refinery to start up by the end of June. Differentials for grades produced in Midland, Texas,strengthened on support from the expectation that the start upof the Whiting crude unit will increase use of crude oil fromthe Cushing hub. CASH CRUDE TRADES Light Louisiana sweet for July delivery traded at$8.85, $8.95 and $9.00 over the U.S. July crude futures,also known as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), which is the U.S.light, sweet crude contract's benchmark grade deliverable at theCushing, Oklahoma, hub. Those trades were completed at weaker differentials afterWednesday's deals done at $9.05, $9.20, $9.35 and $9.50 over thebenchmark. August barrels of LLS traded on Thursday at $8.10 and at$8.15 over the futures benchmark. Mars sour , a Gulf of Mexico-produced grade, traded at$4.20 and $4.25 over the benchmark futures, weaker afterWednesday's trades completed at from $4.60 to $5.05 over. Eugene Island crude traded at $6.20 over thebenchmark, weaker after Wednesday's trade seen completed at$7.00 over the benchmark. MIDLAND GRADES West Texas Intermediate crude at Midland traded at 5cents over and flat to the futures benchmark, stronger thanWednesday's trade at 10 cents under the benchmark. West Texas Sour crude, also at Midland, traded at 5cents under and 10 cents over the futures benchmark, either sideof Wednesday's trade at flat to the benchmark. CRUDE FUTURES Brent July crude rose 57 cents, or 0.55 percent, tosettle at $103.61 a barrel. U.S. July crude rose $1.02, or 1.09 percent, tosettle at $94.76 a barrel. (Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by Bob Burgdorfer)
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