WTI barrels surge to levels not seen in more than a year Middle East, Latin American crudes also trading strongly The market for physical barrels of crude from places as far apart as Oman and Colombia is strengthening beyond the traditional seasonal peak in demand, a positive indicator for global benchmark futures prices that remain stuck near $50. Physical differentials — the price gap between individual grades of crude and widely traded markers like Brent or West Texas Intermediate — have strengthened over the last two weeks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s happening even for barrels due to be shipped in late September and October, typically a period of weaker demand due to seasonal refinery maintenance. “The improvement seen in the physical crude market is persisting beyond the usual summer demand season,” said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultant Energy Aspects Ltd. The relative prices of […]