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Refiners Beware: Brent-West Texas Divide Could Narrow

The price gap between Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate crude has persisted for more than a year, and some analysts have predicted that it will widen more this fall. The spread effects how much refiners pay for oil, and it’s given a boost to U.S. refiners like Valero (VLO),Marathon Petroleum (MPC), Phillips 66 (PSX) and Tesoro (TSO) that can buy Midwestern crude at a discount to their peers in other parts of the world. Some analysts say that the spread will help usher in a new “golden age” for U.S refiners.