The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures widened on Monday.
WCS for April delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $13.75 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared with $13.20 on Friday.
* The war in Iran has disrupted global supply of medium and heavy sour barrels, contributing to tighter spreads for heavy crude this month as well as higher outright pricing.
* If Middle East supply disruptions persist, there could be strong demand for Canadian crude along the U.S. West Coast and in Asia, said Wood Mackenzie analyst Dylan White. That could drive higher utilizations on Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline system, which runs from Alberta to the Pacific coast and currently has only about 100,000 bpd of available spot capacity, White said.
* Oil prices fell on Monday amid attacks on Gulf oil production and U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for global efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)