Canadian heavy crude’s discount narrowed versus West Texas Intermediate (WTI) on Friday, in slow trade during the U.S. Independence Day holiday.
Canadian differentials have compressed due to deep oil curtailments in spring, although improving prices have encouraged producers to restore some volumes.
Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for August delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded at $8.50 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada Inc, narrower than Thursday’s settle of $8.85 under.
Light synthetic crude from the oil sands for August delivery traded at $2.60 under WTI, after Thursday’s settle of $2.95 under.
Global oil prices dipped as a resurgence of coronavirus cases raised concern that fuel demand growth could stall, although crude was still headed for a weekly gain on lower supply and wider signs of economic recovery.
Canadian crude exports to the United States fell by 810,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 2.75 million bpd in May, Statistics Canada said.