Western Canadian crude inventories decrease in May

Western Canadian crude oil inventories fell in May, energy information provider Genscape said on Wednesday, helped by an increase in crude-by-rail loadings.

Total stocks were 33.6 million barrels, retreating from the record high of 37.1 million barrels set in April.

The decline follows Alberta government production curtailments that were imposed on Jan. 1 to help drain a glut of crude in storage and boost Canadian crude prices.

Oil companies are limited to producing 3.71 million barrels per day in June and July.

Genscape data also pointed to a recovery in Canadian crude-by-rail loadings, which averaged 231,000 bpd in May, an increase of 34,000 bpd over the previous month.

Canadian crude-by-rail shipments slowed in early 2019 after the Alberta government introduced curtailments, which shrank the discount on Canadian crude dramatically and made crude-by-rail uneconomic.

Heavy crude differentials have widened since the start of the year, prompting companies like Imperial Oil to boost crude-by-rail shipments.