The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures widened on Tuesday.
WCS for March delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $15.55 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared with $15.45 on Monday.
* The last time the discount on Canadian heavy crude consistently traded this low was prior to the opening of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in the spring of 2024, said Enverus analyst Michael Berger.
* Investors are watching for the potential for an increase in Venezuelan barrels to compete with similar in quality Canadian heavy oil in the U.S. Gulf Coast over the longer term.
* Expanded U.S. licenses for Venezuela-related deals are expected to restore the South American country’s oil production by mid-2026 to levels seen before a U.S. naval blockade in December, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday.
* Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday as the market waited for direction from news on diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Iran, efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine and data on the U.S. economy and U.S. oil inventories.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)