* Crude futures mixed in choppy trade * Brent/U.S. crude spread widens, ends back above $8/bbl NEW YORK, May 9 (Reuters) - Cash crude differentials in theUnited States weakened on Thursday as crude futures ended mixedafter volatile trading, brokers and traders said. Cash crude differentials continued to weaken after thetransatlantic spread between Brent and U.S. crude futuresnarrowed to under $8 a barrel on Wednesday and crude oilinventories in the United States continued to increase to recordlevels. "The market is consolidating and it seems like thefundamental picture is a bit cleaner," said a cash crude broker. In the U.S. cash crude market on Thursday, Light LouisianaSweet for June delivery traded at $9.25 a barrel over theU.S. June crude futures contract, also known by its crude grade of West Texas Intermediate (WTI). WTI is the U.S. light, sweet crude contract's benchmarkgrade deliverable at Cushing, Oklahoma. That LLS differential was weaker after Wednesday's tradesfrom $9.05 to $10.00 above the benchmark. A Gulf of Mexico-produced grade, Mars sour , had Junebarrels traded from $4.00 to $4.40 above the benchmark futures,weaker than Wednesday's trades from $4.70 to $5.40 above thebenchmark. Bonito sour traded at $6.50 over the benchmarkfutures, weaker than bids seen at $6.90 over and offers peggedat $7.50 over the benchmark. Eugene Island traded at $6.50 and $6.60 over thebenchmark, weaker after Wednesday's trade at completed at $7.00over. It traded on Tuesday at $8.75 over. MIDLAND GRADES West Texas Intermediate crude at Midland traded at 5and 15 cents over the benchmark futures, weaker after trading onWednesday at 25 cents over. Trades were completed on Monday in a much stronger rangefrom 35 to 65 cents over. West Texas Sour crude, also at Midland, traded at 5cents over the benchmark, weaker after Wednesday's trade at 30cents over and after trading on Monday at 60 cents over. Midland crude grades were recently supported by theimpending restart of a 156,000-barrel-per-day crude distillationunit at Valero Energy Corp's McKee, Texas, refineryafter a turnaround. Valero said on Monday the unit hadrestarted. Also supporting Midland differentials in recent weeks wereincreases in pipeline capacity from the West Texas region to theU.S. Gulf Coast's refineries, traders said. BRENT/WTI SPREAD Brent's premium to U.S. crude ended at $8.08 abarrel on Thursday based on June contract settlements, afterending at $7.72 on Wednesday. Wednesday's spread was the narrowest at settlement sinceJan. 20, 2011, when it ended at $6.99. Brent's premium fell to $7.58 during Wednesday's session,the lowest it had been since Dec. 28, 2011, when it fell to$7.31 intraday. 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 other global waterbornecrudes such as Brent. CRUDE FUTURES MIXED Brent June crude rose 13 cents, or 0.12 percent, tosettle at $104.47 a barrel, having traded from $103.45 to$104.60. Having seesawed during the session, Brent turned lower againin post-settlement trading. U.S. June crude fell 23 cents, or 0.24 percent, tosettle at $96.39 a barrel, having traded from $95.35 to $96.77and staying within Wednesday's trading range. (Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by Bob Burgdorfer)
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