The discount on Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy crude versus the North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) widened slightly on Thursday.
WCS for April delivery in Hardisty, Alberta traded between $15.75 and $16.30 per barrel under WTI, according to brokerage CalRock. WCS had traded between $15.75 and $16 per barrel below the U.S. benchmark on Wednesday.
TC Energy’s Keystone oil pipeline is offline due to operational issues, cutting off a major conduit of Canadian oil to the United States, four industry sources said.
WCS prices had previously strengthened on optimism about the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion beginning line fill in April ahead of a second-quarter startup, and tight crude supplies, a trader said.
Global oil futures were little changed as markets weighed new economic data from China against increasing supply from the Western Hemisphere.
(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Editing by Jamie Freed)