Canadian heavy crude's discount versus West Texas Intermediate (WTI) narrowed on Wednesday, the last day of the monthly trading cycle. Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for October delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded at $7.80 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada Inc. It settled on Tuesday at $8.05 under. The tight spread reflects global tightness in heavy oil supplies as U.S. Gulf Coast refiners seek alternative supplies to replace declining output from Venezuela and [Read more]
Oil rises as storm closes U.S. production, inventories drop
Oil prices rose for a second day on Wednesday as a hurricane closed U.S. offshore oil and gas production and an industry report showed a decrease in U.S. crude inventories. U.S. crude rose $1.77, or 4.65%, to $40.18. Brent crude rose $42.24, or 3.91%, to $42.24 a barrel. Both contracts rose by more than 2% on Tuesday. More than 25% of U.S. offshore oil and gas output was shut and export ports were closed on Tuesday as Hurricane Sally sat just off the U.S. Gulf Coast. "Our current [Read more]
Oil rises but bleaker demand outlook weighs
Oil prices rose on Tuesday, but forecasts of a slower than expected recovery in global fuel demand due to the coronavirus pandemic weighed. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 52 cents, or 1.4%, at $37.78 a barrel. Brent crude was up 44 cents, or 1.1%, at $40.05 a barrel by 1209 GMT, while Both contracts fell on Monday. The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Tuesday trimmed its 2020 outlook by 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 91.7 million bpd, citing caution about [Read more]
Inter Pipeline restores Polaris services after leak
Canada's Inter Pipeline Ltd said on Monday it had restored services to its Polaris pipeline after a leak caused an outage to a part of the system. The oil pipeline operator said the Alberta Energy Regulator approved the installation of a 400-meter bypass pipeline that enables the western portion of Polaris to transport diluent to customers north of Fort McMurray. The company detected a leak in its system late last month and reported a spill of 90 cubic meters (566 barrels) of light oil, 80 [Read more]
Heavy discount narrows on tight supplies
Canadian heavy crude's discount versus West Texas Intermediate (WTI) narrowed on Monday with supplies tight. Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for October delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded at $8 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada Inc. It settled on Friday at $8.10 under. The heavy differential trades at "unsustainably low" levels and is likely to widen into the autumn as industry shut-ins continue to lift, TD Securities analyst Menno Hulshof said in a [Read more]
Oil industry sounds alarm on coronavirus dent in demand
Persistent damage to the global economy from the coronavirus pandemic will hollow out demand for oil more than previously thought, major industry figures said on Monday. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), energy giant BP and commodities trading giant Vitol all made grim forecasts as rising rates of COVID-19 infections sap hopes for quick recovery. OPEC said in its monthly report that world oil demand would fall by 9.46 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, a [Read more]
Offshore wells, ports shut as U.S. Gulf Coast storm advances
Energy companies, ports and refiners on Monday were racing to complete shut-downs as Tropical Storm Sally took aim at the central U.S. Gulf Coast with soaking rains and high wind. Sally was forecast to sock Louisiana and Mississippi with up to 85 mile per hour (137 kph) winds and drop 8- to 16-inches (20-40 cm) of rain, causing widespread flooding. Officials in the two states issued mandatory evacuations for residents in low-lying areas. The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the nation's [Read more]
U.S. natgas futures jump 4% as output falls, LNG exports soar
U.S. natural gas futures jumped 4% on Monday as output fell and liquefied natural gas exports soared. That price increase came despite forecasts for milder weather expected to produce little heating or cooling demand over the next two weeks. After falling to a four-week low last week, front-month gas futures rose 9 cents, or 4.0%, to $2.359 per million British thermal units at 9:11 a.m. EDT (1311 GMT). On Friday, the contract closed at its lowest since Aug. 13. Gas speculators cut their [Read more]
Oil mixed as storm threatens U.S. gulf production
Oil prices were mixed on Monday with U.S. crude rising as a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico forced rigs to shut down, but the gains were kept in check by wider concerns about excess supply and falling demand for fuels. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 9 cents, or 0.2%, at $37.24 a barrel. Brent crude was down 3 cents at $39.80 a barrel. Both contracts ended last week lower, a second consecutive week of declines. Tropical Storm Sally gained in strength in [Read more]
Heavy discount edges wider, remains in narrow range
Canadian heavy crude's discount versus West Texas Intermediate (WTI) widened on Friday, but stayed at tight levels on supply concerns and strong demand. Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for October delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded at $8 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada Inc. It settled on Thursday at $7.45 under. Imperial Oil Ltd shut production at its 220,000-barrel-per-day Kearl oil sands site in Alberta this month due to an outage of part of the Polaris [Read more]