The discount on Western Canada Select (WCS) to the North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures narrowed slightly on Monday.
WCS for July delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $8.80 a barrel under the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, after having settled at $8.85 under the U.S. benchmark on Friday.
* The WCS discount is tight in part due to the wildfire situation in Western Canada, which continues to be a risk to Canadian oil supply, said Enverus analyst Michael Berger.
* Last week, wildfires burning in Canada’s oil-producing province of Alberta prompted several oil sands operations to evacuate workers as a precaution. About 344,000 barrels per day of production, or about 7% of Canada’s average daily crude production, was disrupted as a result.
* Canada’s largest crude producer, Canadian Natural Resources, has since restarted operations at its Jackfish 1 site, but Cenovus Energy has not yet confirmed when it will restart production at its Christina Lake site.
* Alberta’s crude storage levels are hovering around a five-year low, Berger said, in large part due to the drawdown in inventories that has taken place since the opening of the Trans Mountain pipeline expanded export access for Canadian oil producers.
* Seasonal refinery maintenance as well as U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and other countries is also boosting demand for non-sanctioned heavy crude producers like Canada, Berger said.
* Global oil prices hit multi-week highs on Monday, buoyed by a weaker U.S. dollar, while investors awaited news from U.S.-China trade talks in London in hopes a deal could boost global economic outlook and subsequently fuel demand.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Alan Barona)