U.S. crude exports to Europe fell to an 11-month low this month as a shrinking discount and rising shipping costs squeezed demand for U.S. barrels, according to Refinitiv Eikon data and analysts. The spread between U.S. crude and Brent has narrowed sharply from above $10 per barrel in November to $6.63 on Friday, the smallest discount for U.S. crude since early August. [nL1N1YQ10X] “The arb has been less workable,” said Olivier Jakob, analyst at consultancy PetroMatrix. “It’s not really the period to take a lot of crude.” Seventeen vessels carrying about 298,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude departed from Texas and Louisiana for European ports this month, the fewest since last January, with volumes down from 404,000 bpd last month, Refinitiv Eikon data […]