The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures narrowed on Friday.
WCS for August delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $14.20 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared to $14.30 on Thursday.
* The discount remains significantly wider than it was in June, due to the partial reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the ongoing weakness in China’s import appetite, which is hurting demand for heavy crude globally, analysts say.
* The Trans Mountain pipeline is running at or near capacity, leading to strong utilization on the Enbridge mainline system, said Enverus analyst Michael Berger.
* Oil sands’ spring turnarounds and maintenance work from the second quarter of the year are now back online, adding supply to the market, he added.
* Global oil prices fell on Friday after the latest round of U.S.-Iran fighting as traders grew hopeful that shipping would eventually resume in the Strait of Hormuz, but prices remained on track to close the week sharply higher.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Nia Williams)