The discount on Canadian heavy crude versus the West Texas Intermediate benchmark narrowed on Monday, partly offsetting a recent widening trend.
Western Canada Select heavy blend crude for July delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, last traded at $20.00 a barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Group, narrowing from the previous settlement of $20.80 a barrel under the benchmark.
Canadian heavy barrels have been following the differentials on Gulf Coast heavy grades like Mars sour wider in recent weeks.
The U.S. government’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve release has been weighted towards heavy sour crude, boosting supply and pushing prices lower.
The outright price of WCS remains just under $100 a barrel due to strong WTI prices.
Light synthetic crude from the oil sands for July delivery settled at $7.10 a barrel over WTI, supported by maintenance on oil sands upgraders.
Oil prices settled slightly lower after a choppy trading session, buoyed by Saudi Arabia raising its July crude prices but amid doubts that a higher output target for OPEC+ oil producers would ease tight supply.