“It appears we’re in a bit of a cautious restart mode at present,” said Tudor Pickering Holt & Co analyst Matt Murphy, noting that production facilities Kearl and Syncrude are in turnaround.
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, narrower than Tuesday’s settle of $9 under.
Light synthetic crude from the oil sands was trading at $2.75 under, after Tuesday’s settle of $3 under.
A crash in global oil prices in March and April led to curtailments around the world, including an estimated 1 million barrels per day in Alberta. Prices have since improved.
Global oil prices recovered their earlier losses even as U.S. data showed crude inventories rose to a record high, reviving worries of a persistent glut due to weak demand.