Canada's Syncrude oil sands facility has declared force majeure after a fire at the plant and told customers it will reduce production by about 20%, sources familiar with the matter said. Syncrude is a joint venture majority-owned by Suncor Energy Inc , with minority stakes held by Imperial Oil Ltd and others. It can produce up to 360,000 barrels per day, upgrading thick bitumen to light oil. "We're working with the operator, Syncrude, to better understand the situation," Suncor [Read more]
Heavy discount narrows as stocks decline, maintenance season nears
Canadian heavy crude's discount narrowed versus the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude on Thursday, as inventories declined and maintenance season approached for oil sands operations. Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for April delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, was trading at $14.05 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada Inc, narrower than Wednesday's settle of $14.60 under. On Tuesday, the WCS-WTI differential was as narrow as $13, the smallest since Oct. [Read more]
Protests, speed limits curb Canada’s February crude-by-rail shipments
Protests along Canadian rail lines and lower government-imposed speed limits last month caused a modest drop in crude shipments on trains, data provider Genscape said on Thursday. Canadian rail loadings in February averaged 346,000 barrels per day (bpd), down from 354,000 bpd in January, suggesting a "fairly minimal impact," Genscape said in a statement. Loadings had hit a record high in December of 358,000 bpd. Protests popped up last month in solidarity with a British Columbia [Read more]
Oil falls more than 1% ahead of OPEC meeting to discuss supply cuts
Oil prices fell more than 1% on Thursday ahead of an OPEC meeting in which Saudi Arabia is expected to push the group and its allies including Russia to agree to further output cuts to support the market. Prices were also supported by a lower-than-expected rise in crude oil inventories in the United States, alleviating some concerns of oversupply in the world's biggest oil consumer. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down by 61 cents, or 1.2%, at $46.55 per barrel. Brent crude [Read more]
Heavy discount widens in correction after hitting 5-month milestone
Canadian heavy crude's discount widened versus the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude on Wednesday, in a modest correction after touching the narrowest level in five months. Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for April delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, was trading at $14.60 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada Inc, wider than Tuesday's settle of $14.10 under. On Tuesday, the WCS-WTI differential was as narrow as $13, the smallest since Oct. 2. The heavy [Read more]
Oil rises as OPEC+ moves closer toward deeper output cut
Oil prices rose more than 1% on Wednesday on expectations that major producers have moved closer to an agreement to enact deeper output cuts aimed at offsetting the slump in demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose by 53 cents, or 1.12%, to $47.71 a barrel, up for a third session. Brent crude rose by 58 cents, or 1.12%, to $52.44 a barrel at 0212 GMT, after settling down 4 cents in the previous session. Brent and WTI have each fallen [Read more]
Heavy discount widens, remains in narrow range
Canadian heavy crude's discount widened versus the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude on Tuesday, but remained in a narrow range. Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for April delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, was trading at $13.70 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada Inc, wider than Monday's settle of $13.45 under. Broad strength across Canadian grades indicates excess capacity on pipelines, with the upstream turnaround season beginning soon, milder weather [Read more]
Oil rises a 2nd day as stimulus hopes, expected OPEC cuts offset virus
Oil prices rose for a second day on Tuesday on expectations that central banks are likely to enact financial stimulus to offset the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak and growing optimism that OPEC will order deeper output cuts this week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 20 cents, or 0.45%, to $47.63 a barrel. Brent crude rose 3 cents per barrel, , to $52.75 per barrel at 0148 GMT. Brent and WTI have rebounded somewhat over the past two days from a more than 20% drop from [Read more]
Heavy discount remains narrow before turnarounds as new monthly trading cycle begins
Canadian heavy crude's discount traded in a narrow range versus the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude on Monday, reflecting anticipation of some oil production going offline for maintenance soon, on the first day of the month's trading cycle. Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for April delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, was trading at $13.50 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada Inc, slightly narrower than Friday's settle in thin trading of $13.55 [Read more]
Alberta boosts oil well clean-up to create jobs
The oil-producing Canadian province of Alberta is increasing its financial support for cleaning up wells without owners, addressing an environmental liability as it creates jobs in the slumping industry. Premier Jason Kenney said on Monday that Alberta would loan up to C$100 million ($74.95 million) to the Orphan Well Association, which is funded by energy companies, to decommission 1,000 additional wells, doubling its pace. The move will create as many as 500 direct and indirect jobs for [Read more]