The discount on Western Canada Select to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures widened on Wednesday.
WCS for December delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $11.25 a barrel under the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared to Tuesday’s close of $11.05.
* The differential is slightly higher than this time last month but very healthy by seasonal standards, said Rory Johnston, founder of the Commodity Context newsletter.
“The big test will be how healthy these differentials can hold over the coming colder months,” he said, adding winter is when WCS value has historically been weighed down by the combination of Midwestern turnarounds and the higher call on Western Canadian takeaway capacity driven by additional cold-weather diluent requirements.
* WCS pricing continues to be supported by the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which has enabled strong buying of Canadian crude off the Pacific coast, especially by China.
* Oil prices fell more than 1% on Wednesday, settling at two-week lows on pressure from concerns of a possible global oil glut, but data showing signs of strong U.S. demand for fuel limited losses.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)