The discount on Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy crude versus the North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded flat on Friday:
* WCS for August delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $13.65 a barrel below WTI on Friday, according to brokerage CalRock, holding steady.
* Refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast, which process Canadian crude, had limited damage and largely returned to normal operations on Wednesday following Hurricane Beryl.
* Offshore platforms in the area, which produce some medium crudes that are also used by refineries in Gulf Coast, saw limited damage as well.
* U.S. Gulf Coast refiners’ net input of crude rose last week to more than 9.4 million bpd for the first time since January 2019, government data showed.
* However, signs of weaker demand from China, the world’s biggest oil importer, could counter the outlook from the United States and weigh on prices.
* Global oil prices settled slightly lower on Friday, the second consecutive session, as investors weighed weaker U.S. consumer sentiment against mounting hopes for a Federal Reserve rate cut in September.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)