The Canadian heavy oil differential narrowed against the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark on Tuesday to its narrowest level in more than a year and a half: Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for February delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $9.20 a barrel below WTI crude futures , narrower than Monday's settle of $10.15 below WTI, according to Net Energy Exchange. The intraday low of $9 is the lowest differential, or discount, on Canadian heavy crude to WTI since May [Read more]
Heavy crude discount smallest since 2017 as cuts cause confusion
The Canadian heavy oil differential moved against the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark on Monday to its narrowest level in more than a year, as traders tried to sort out the impact of the Alberta government's mandated production cuts: Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for February delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded on Monday afternoon for a differential as little as $9.75 a barrel below WTI crude futures, compared with Friday's settle at $11.25 below WTI, according to [Read more]
TransCanada’s Marketlink crude line to cut some rates from Cushing
TransCanada Corp's Marketlink pipeline filed with U.S. energy regulators to cut certain spot rates to haul crude from Cushing, Oklahoma to Port Arthur and Houston, Texas, in a move expected to draw down inventories at the storage hub:* The pipeline plans to reduce the temporary discounted spot rate to $3.60 per barrel from $3.875/bbl to ship light crude from Cushing to Port Arthur - U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Friday filing* Temporary discounted spot rate to ship heavy [Read more]
U.S. oil drillers cut rigs for first week in three
U.S. energy firms cut oil rigs for the first time in three weeks as producers started to reduce their 2019 drilling plans with the collapse in crude prices at the end of last year. Drillers cut eight oil rigs in the week to Jan. 4, bringing the total count down to 877, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. The U.S. rig count, an early indicator of future output, is still much higher than a year ago when 742 rigs were active [Read more]
Heavy crude differential narrows as Alberta oil cuts take effect
The Canadian heavy oil differential narrowed against the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark on Wednesday, as Alberta's mandated oil production cutbacks took effect:* Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for February delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded on Wednesday afternoon at $12.75 a barrel below WTI crude futures , narrower than Monday's settle at $15.65 below WTI, according to Net Energy Exchange.* Light synthetic crude from the oil sands for February delivery was [Read more]
U.S. drillers add oil rigs for second week in a row
U.S. energy firms added oil rigs for a second week in a row even as oil prices fell to 1-1/2-year lows and headed for losses of more than 20 percent this year. Drillers added 2 oil rigs in the week to Dec. 28, bringing the total count to 885, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. . For the month the rig count fell by 2, its first decline in six months. But for the quarter, the count was up 26, the fourth increase in a [Read more]
Alberta to give temporary break to some producers on oil cuts
Alberta is offering temporary flexibility to some oil producers on mandated production cuts, as the Western Canadian province reviews their claims that curtailment levels are unfairly high for some and pose technical and safety concerns for certain projects.The oil-rich province took the unusual step this month of mandating temporary production cuts amounting to 325,000 barrels per day (bpd), or 8.7 percent, starting in January to deal with a glut in storage and sagging prices. A shortage of [Read more]
U.S. drillers add oil rigs for first week in three
U.S. energy firms added oil rigs for the first time in the past three weeks despite sharp declines in crude futures prices to their lowest since the summer of 2017. Drillers added 10 oil rigs in the week to Dec. 21, bringing the total count to 883, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. . This was the biggest weekly gain in rig numbers since early November. More than half the total U.S. oil rigs are in the Permian Basin, the [Read more]
Political stumbles, savvy activists knock Canada’s oil sector to its knees
A decade ago, Canada's oil sector was growing so fast it was predicted to become a global energy superpower, but a series of political missteps and formidable environmental activism has created a dysfunctional system requiring OPEC-style government intervention to move its oil to market. Canada produces 4.9 million barrels per day (bpd), more than any country other than the United States, Saudi Arabia and Russia, but the world's fourth largest producer has had to nationalize a pipeline and [Read more]
ExxonMobil shelves Canada LNG export project
U.S. oil major ExxonMobil has withdrawn its WCC liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project in Canada from an environmental assessment, it said on Thursday, effectively signalling that the project has been shelved.The so-called WCC LNG export project in Canada's British Columbia was expected to produce around 15 million tonnes per year of LNG, with plans for further expansion up to 30 million tonnes per year.Legislation in British Columbia requires large projects to obtain an [Read more]