Canadian heavy crude’s discount widened versus the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) on Wednesday as Alberta oil storage levels eased and Enbridge Inc’s Line 3 pipeline faced added delays.
Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for July delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded at $8.60 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada Inc, wider than Tuesday’s settle of $7.65 under.
Light synthetic crude from the oil sands was trading at $2 below WTI after Tuesday’s settle of $1.80 under.
About 27 million barrels of oil is currently held in storage in Canada’s Alberta province, down from a peak of 37 million barrels earlier this year according to estimates by Imperial Oil , Royal Bank of Canada analysts said.
A Minnesota pollution regulator said it will hold a public hearing this summer on Enbridge’s plan to replace its Line 3 oil pipeline, adding a potential two-month delay and pushing the bulk of construction to next year.
Global oil prices edged higher but were pressured by doubts about the timing and scale of a potential extension to an output pact between OPEC and its allies as well as a surge in U.S. refined product inventories.