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CANADA-CRUDE-Discount on Western Canada Select widens

On Thursday, the discount between West Texas Intermediate and Western Canada Select futures (the North American benchmark) widened.

WCS for Hardisty, Alberta delivery in September settled at $11.95 per barrel below the U.S. benchmark WTI according to brokerage CalRock. It was $11.85 on Wednesday.

* The difference between Canadian heavy crude oil and the U.S. benchmark is trending wider. Analysts say that this is due to a return to more normal market conditions after the discount was extremely tight due to wildfires which temporarily disrupted the oil sands production in Canada.

The demand for Canadian heavy crude oil, which is used to make asphalt in the United States, usually peaks at the beginning of summer and then drops as traders start to plan ahead for the fall.

* Oil prices fell globally on Thursday for the sixth straight session, after the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet U.S. president Donald Trump in the next few days, raising hopes for a diplomatic ending to the conflict in Ukraine. (Reporting from Georgina McCartney, Houston; Editing and rewriting by Mohammed Safi Shamsi).

(source: Reuters)