NEW YORK, Jan 21 (Reuters) - U.S. inland crude differentialsfell sharply on Tuesday as refinery maintenance ramped up in theregion and weighed on demand for oil.
West Texas Intermediate
West Texas Sour
Western Refining Inc on Monday said it isundertaking a planned turnaround on the south side of its122,000-barrel-per-day El Paso, Texas, refinery.
Other refiners like Valero and Marathon havealso taken units offline for planned work. Industry estimatesshow a total of 1.6 million barrels-per-day capacity could beoffline for maintenance in the first quarter.
Coastal cash crude grades, however, shrugged off the demandoutlook and rallied on Tuesday to regain some ground they lostlate last week.
Mars sour
Light Louisiana Sweet
One trader said the market is eyeing planned work on RoyalDutch Shell's offshore Amberjack system, which carriesMars and other sour grades to Louisiana.
Shell declined to comment on the pipeline's operations.
The company restarted another line on its Ship Shoal systemthat carries sour crude to the Gibson terminal in Louisiana onFriday following repairs.
In the futures market, U.S. crude oil rose 62 cents toexpire at $94.99 a barrel. International Brent rose 38cents to $106.73 a barrel.
The spread between the two contracts