The discount on Western Canada Select (WCS) to the North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures widened on Thursday.
WCS for July delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $9.05 a barrel under the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared with $8.90 a barrel in Wednesday’s trade.
* WCS discounts had tightened last week, partly due to the wildfire situation in Western Canada that prompted several oil sands operations in the oil-producing province of Alberta to evacuate workers and temporarily halt production 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 sands producer Cenovus Energy said on Thursday it had restarted production at its Christina Lake oil sands facility in Alberta and added there has been no damage to its infrastructure. Cenovus had previously declared force majeure on its supply of Christina Lake Dil-bit heavy crude due to the wildfires, two sources told Reuters earlier this month.
* Other Canadian oil sands companies, MEG Energy and Canadian Natural Resources, have also moved to restore full production capacity after wildfire-related shutdowns earlier this month.
* Global oil prices settled slightly lower on Thursday as traders booked profits from a 4% rally in the prior session, driven by concerns that worsening tensions in the Middle East could cause supply disruptions.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Alan Barona)