Heavy differential holds steady
The Canadian heavy crude discount was steady against U.S. benchmark crude futures on Monday:
* Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for October delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, last traded at $12.50 per barrel below WTI, according to Net Energy Exchange, unchanged from Friday's settle.
* The differential remains relatively tight, helped by showing western Canadian crude inventories declined for a fourth straight month in August.
* Last month, the government of Alberta extended mandatory oil production curtailments into 2020 because of uncertainty about when new export pipeline capacity will come online. The policy was introduced at the start of 2019 to drain a glut of crude in storage and boost prices.
* Light synthetic crude from the oil sands for October delivery last traded at 85 cents per barrel over WTI, gaining slightly from Friday's settle of 70 cents per barrel over the benchmark.
* U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.33, or 2.4%, to settle at $57.85 a barrel, after the new Saudi energy minister confirmed expectations that he would stick with his country's policy of limiting crude output to support prices.
(Reporting by Nia Williams in Calgary)