The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures widened again on Thursday.
WCS for November delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $26.40 a barrel below the US benchmark WTI, compared with $25.55 on Wednesday, according to brokerage CalRock. The discount is now more than $15 wider than it was at this time last year.
* The widening reflects a combination of growing Venezuelan imports into the US Gulf Coast, refinery disruptions, growing oil sands production and tighter pipeline utilization, TD Cowen said in a report. The dramatic widening has been a “surprising negative” that reinforces the importance of proposed new pipeline projects to Canada additional export capacity, the report said.
* Brent crude was little changed on Thursday as investors weighed possible US steps to ease restrictions on the world’s “shadow fleet” of tankers, while conflict in the Middle East kept a geopolitical risk premium in the market.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Perla Velasco)