The discount of Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy crude to the North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures (WTI) widened on Tuesday.
WCS for May delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $9.30 a barrel under WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, after having settled at $9.10 under the U.S. benchmark on Monday.
* The WCS discount briefly widened last week in the immediate aftermath of an oil spill in North Dakota, which caused Keystone operator South Bow to temporarily shut down the 4,327-km (2,689) pipeline from Canada to the U.S.
* But it has since returned to historically tight conditions brought about by increased demand for heavy crude due to U.S. sanctions on heavy crude-producing countries such as Venezuela, as well as lower heavy crude exports from Mexico.
* Global oil prices were little changed on Tuesday as investors digested the latest headlines on U.S. President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs and tried to figure how much the U.S.-China trade war could reduce global economic growth and oil demand.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)