TORONTO – Scotiabank says a benchmark Canadian heavy crude hit its highest level in five years last month.
The bank says in its monthly report of commodity prices that Western Canadian Select crude hit US$90.90 per barrel in August, the highest since mid-2008.
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Scotiabank economist Patricia Mohr says in a report issued Monday that Canadian oilsands crude is now closer to its true value than in the first quarter of 2013.
At the time, Canadian oilsands crude was trading at a bigger than usual discount to West Texas Intermediate, the North American benchmark.
The bank says its overall index of Canadian energy, mining, agriculture and forestry commodities slipped in August by 0.1 per cent compared with July.
However, for the first eight months of 2013 the Scotiabank Commodity Price Index was up 1.2 per cent as of August compared with the same time last year.