US Cash Crude-Grades mixed on last day of February trade

HOUSTON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Coastal crude grades mixed on Friday, dealers said, on the last day of the February trading period.

Traders use the three-day roll period to adjust their crude slates, square up positions and net out exposures following the expiration of the U.S. crude futures contract.

Baker Hughes said oil rig counts, an indicator of future ouput, rose by 1 to 411 this week.

Meanwhile, U.S. crude output is set to slip as the cold snap and stormy conditions push operators to shut in production in key basins, according to state regulators and analysts. That could lead to a total loss of around 300,000 barrels per day, said Energy Aspects, adding that the production outage could climb further.

North Dakota crude output, meanwhile, is currently down by between 80,000 bpd and 110,000 bpd, accounting for around 5 to 10% of the state's output, as operators shut production in due to cold weather, the state regulator said on Friday.

• Light Louisiana Sweet for February delivery was unchanged at a midpoint of a $1.23 premium and was seen bid and offered between a 95-cent and $1.50 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1

• Mars Sour at a midpoint of a $2 discount and was seen bid and offered between a $2.25 and $1.75 a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures CLc1

• WTI Midland eased by $1.50 to a midpoint of a $1 premium and was seen bid and offered between a 90-cent and $1.10 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1

• West Texas Sour gained 45 cents to a midpoint of a $2.60 discount and was seen bid and offered between a $2.80 and $2.40 a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures CLc1 ​

• WTI at East Houston , also known as MEH, traded between a $1.00 and $1.30 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures CLc1

• ICE Brent March futures LCOc1 rose $1.82 to settle at $65.88 a barrel on Friday​.

• WTI March crude CLc1 futures rose $1.71 to settle at $61.07 a barrel on Friday​

• The Brent/WTI spread widened 19 cents to to last trade at minus $4.89, after hitting a high of minus $4.69 and a low of minus $4.90.

(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by David Gregorio)

((arathy.s@tr.com))