The discount on Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy crude versus the North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) edged wider on Wednesday, continuing to trade in a narrow range:
* WCS for March delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $19.60 a barrel under WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, having closed at $19.30 per barrel below the U.S. benchmark on Tuesday.
* Canadian heavy crude differentials have traded within sight of $19 a barrel below WTI all month, weighed down an outage at BP’s 435,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Whiting, Indiana, refinery and fresh delays to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX) project.
* Global oil futures sank by $1 a barrel as surging U.S. crude inventories pushed down prices and a possible security threat to the U.S. that might dampen oil demand in the world’s largest economy.
(Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia; Editing by Rashmi Aich)