Canadian heavy crude’s discount to West Texas Intermediate (WTI) narrowed on Thursday:
Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for September delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded at $13.60 per barrel below the WTI benchmark, according to NE2 Canada Inc, narrower than Wednesday’s settlement of $14 per barrel below U.S. crude futures.
The differential’s narrowing since the new trading cycle began this week is due to steady Alberta oil inventories and strong demand from refiners, trading sources said.
Even so, Enbridge Inc is conducting maintenance on its Line 3 and apportionment on the Mainline remains high, shipper Canadian Natural Resources said.
Light synthetic crude from the oil sands for September delivery traded at $1.45 per barrel below WTI, narrower than the previous day’s settle of $1.60 under.
Global oil prices rose on increasing Middle East tensions, but fresh movement restrictions imposed by countries to counter a surge in COVID-19 cases threatened the demand recovery.