The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures narrowed on Thursday.
WCS for September delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $14.70 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared to $14.80 on Wednesday.
* The discount remains significantly wider than it was in June, after traffic through the Strait of Hormuz picked up in July and also due to the ongoing weakness in China’s import appetite, which is hurting demand for heavy crude globally, analysts said.
* Daily average production in Alberta over the first six months of 2026 totalled an all-time record of 4.1 million barrels per day, 3% higher than the same period in 2025, according to ATB Cormark Capital Markets.
* Global oil prices settled up by more than $3 a barrel on Thursday on news an Iranian parliament committee is reviewing a bill that would ban U.S. and Israeli vessels from the Strait of Hormuz and fine violators up to a fifth of the value of their cargo.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Shreya Biswas)