The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures narrowed on Monday.
WCS for December delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $25 a barrel below the US benchmark WTI, compared with $26 on Friday, according to brokerage CalRock.
* The discount on heavy Canadian crude has retreated from the blowout levels of earlier this month, in part because global freight rates — while still high — have come down since October, said Rory Johnston, founder of the Commodity Context newsletter.
* The WCS differential at Hardisty in the first week of November reached as wide as $31 below WTI. At Houston, WCS barrels in late October hit an all-time wide discount of $23 as soaring global freight rates reduced demand for Canadian crude re-exports off the US Gulf Coast.
* Brent crude futures continued tumbling after settlement on Monday to lose more than $7 a barrel, hitting their lowest since late August, after US President Donald Trump downplayed the likelihood of renewed strikes on Iran.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Perla Velasco)