The discount on Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy crude versus the North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) tightened on Friday:
* WCS for March delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $18.70 a barrel under WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, having closed at $19.00 per barrel below the U.S. benchmark on Thursday.
* Canadian heavy crude prices came under pressure on news that BP’s 435,000 barrel-per-day Whiting, Indiana, refinery was forced to shut down on Thursday due to a power outage.
* On Friday, BP said power was restored to the refinery on Thursday night, but sources said the company had not yet set a date for restarting operations. Whiting is the largest U.S. Midwest refinery and a major buyer of Canadian heavy crude.
* Global oil prices fell by about 2% and posted weekly losses after U.S. jobs data shrank the odds of imminent interest rate cuts in the world’s largest economy, which could dampen crude demand.
(Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)