The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures narrowed on Thursday.
WCS for June delivery in Hardisty, Alberta settled at $15.30 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared to $15.85 on Wednesday.
* 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 the 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.
* Globally, oil prices ended little changed on Thursday after Iran’s state media said about 30 vessels had crossed the Strait of Hormuz, though attacks on one ship and the seizure of another kept stoking concerns over the flow of energy supplies during the Iran war.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)