The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures was unchanged on Friday.
WCS for May delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $15.55 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, flat on Thursday’s close.
* The WCS differential has been volatile since the start of the U.S. war on Iran, with competing variables pulling and pushing on relative prices for Canadian heavy crude, said Wood Mackenzie analyst Dylan White.
* The market is in wait-and-see mode and much depends on whether the tenuous ceasefire holds, he said.
* Oil futures settled lower on Friday and posted their biggest weekly decline since 2022 ahead of talks between Iran and the U.S. aimed at securing a permanent ceasefire.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Leroy Leo)