Heavy discount narrows slightly, widening seen resuming on higher output

Canadian heavy crude’s discount narrowed slightly versus West Texas Intermediate (WTI) on Friday, but was expected to resume its widening trend as more production returns after shut-ins.

Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for September delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded at $11.70 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada Inc. It settled the previous day at $11.90 under.

The heavy differential widened earlier this week because of returning supplies after first-half shut-ins, and amid widening in global spreads of high sulphur fuel oil versus U.S. light oil, said John Coleman, analyst at Wood Mackenzie.

Light synthetic crude from the oil sands for September delivery traded at $2.55 a barrel under WTI, narrower than the previous day’s settle of $2.60 under.

Global oil prices fell nearly 2%, limiting their weekly gain due to concerns the global recovery could falter from a resurgence of coronavirus cases.