The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures widened on Wednesday.
WCS for May delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $13 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared with $10.80 on Tuesday.
* The war in Iran has disrupted global supply of medium and heavy sour barrels, contributing to tighter spreads for heavy crude last month as well as higher outright pricing.
* However, global oil prices fell on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said the country will end its war on Iran fairly soon.
* Wednesday was the start of the Canadian crude market’s trade cycle, which runs from the first of each month until the day before pipeline nominations are due, and in which the bulk of the trading activity takes place.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Shreya Biswas)