Canadian heavy crude’s discount to West Texas Intermediate (WTI) narrowed on Wednesday:
Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for September delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded at $14.05 per barrel below the WTI benchmark, according to NE2 Canada Inc, narrower than Tuesday’s settlement of $14.40 per barrel below U.S. crude futures.
The narrowing differential reflects strong margins for refiners, and room for increased runs with some turnarounds wrapping up soon, an industry source said.
Light synthetic crude from the oil sands for September delivery traded at $1.75 per barrel below WTI, a tad narrower than the previous day’s settle of $1.80 under.
Physical trading of Canadian crude is busiest in the first half of each month until nominations are due to ship volumes on Enbridge Inc’s Mainline.
Global oil prices fell for a third day in a row to a two-week low on a surprise build in U.S. crude stockpiles and worries the spread of the coronavirus Delta variant will weigh on global energy demand.