The discount on Western Canada Select (WCS) to the North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures widened slightly on Wednesday.
WCS for July delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $8.90 a barrel under the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared with $8.80 a barrel to Tuesday’s trade.
* WCS discounts have been tight in recent days, partly due to the wildfire situation in Western Canada.
* 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.
* Oil and gas producer MEG Energy said its Christina Lake regional project in Alberta was ramping up to full operations, following recent regional wildfires south of the facility. Canada’s largest crude producer, Canadian Natural Resources, restarted operations at its Jackfish 1 site.
* Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on Wednesday the province is working to present Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney with a proponent and route for a potential new crude pipeline from Alberta to the Port of Prince Rupert in British Columbia.
* Global oil prices rose more than 4% on Wednesday, to their highest in more than two months, after sources said the U.S. was preparing to evacuate its Iraqi embassy due to heightened security concerns in the Middle East.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)