NEW YORK, Feb 11 (Reuters) - U.S. cash crude differentialswere mixed on Tuesday with Gulf Coast grades inching lowerdespite the shutdown of Royal Dutch Shell's Houston-to-Houma (Ho-Ho) pipeline after weekly data indicatedmore oil is arriving from Oklahoma.
Shell on Tuesday said it shut the entire Ho-Ho pipeline forplanned maintenance about a month after it reversed and startedit.
The company discovered a leak near the pipeline inChannelview, Texas, and the line's restart is contingent on theidentification and repair of this leak, according to aspokeswoman.
Still, Light Louisiana Sweet
Mars sour
West Texas Intermediate
West Texas Sour
Meanwhile, weekly data from the American Petroleum Institute(API) showed that crude oil stocks at the Cushing, Oklahomastorage hub fell 2.5 million barrels last week, suggestingTransCanada Corp.'s newly-started Gulf Coast pipelinemay be ramping up.
Other pipelines are also increasing their throughput.Magellan Midstream's Longhorn is expected to run at200,000 bpd capacity in the first half of this year and at250,000 bpd later in 2014.
Still, Marathon Petroleum Chief Executive GaryHeminger on Tuesday said it may take some time to have adequatesupplies of light sweet oil in the Gulf Coast region.
Inventories there took a hit when Shell shut its Ship Shoaloffshore pipeline system late last year and winter weatherinterfered with barge movement on the Louisiana Offshore OilPort, he said.
"It will take until end February or early March to replenishthe system," Heminger said addressing the Credit Global EnergySummit.
In the futures market, U.S. oil fell 12 cents and settled at$99.94 while international Brent rose five cents to endat $108.68 a barrel.
The spread between the two contracts
(Reporting by Selam Gebrekidan and Josephine Mason in New York;Kristen Hays in Houston; Editing by Diane Craft)
