The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures narrowed on Friday.
WCS for December delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $26.20 a barrel below the US benchmark WTI, compared with $26.60 on Thursday, according to brokerage CalRock.
* The discount on heavy Canadian crude remains wide, due to constrained Canadian export capacity, increased competition from Venezuelan heavy crude and surging freight rates globally caused by ongoing disruptions in the Middle East.
* 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.
* Oil prices sagged on Friday, set for a second straight weekly decline, as signs of a growing global supply surplus weighed on the market and Washington’s focus on blockading Iran, while ramping up other economic pressures, allayed fears of renewed hostilities in the nine-month war.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Perla Velasco)