The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures widened on Thursday.
WCS for November delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $24.10 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared with $21.60 on Wednesday.
* Canada will fast track the approval process for a new proposed crude oil export pipeline to its west coast that could generate over C$20 billion ($14 billion) a year in GDP, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday. The pipeline, which was announced in July, is a crucial part of Carney’s bid to diversify the economy away from the United States and help lessen the effect of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
* Global oil prices jumped on Thursday and settled up more than $4 a barrel, after a report said the US was sending more troops and carriers to the Middle East and China suspended oil products exports, stoking fears that global fuel shortages could worsen.
(Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston; Editing by David Gregorio)