The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures narrowed slightly on Tuesday.
WCS for June delivery in Hardisty, Alberta settled at $15.90 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, 5 cents higher than Monday’s close.
* While the discount has narrowed since the start of the month, the differential for heavy Canadian crude remains wider than it was at the beginning of the U.S. war on Iran.
* The WCS differential has been volatile since the start of conflict and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has sharply reduced crude exports from the region and left energy importers scrambling for alternative supplies.
* Global oil prices settled higher for the third consecutive session on Tuesday as stark differences between the U.S. and Iran over a proposal to end the war in the Middle East raised concerns that supply disruptions upending the global oil market are likely to be prolonged.
(Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)