Heavy crude discount widens on first day of trading cycle

Canadian heavy crude’s differential to benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude widened on Tuesday, the first day of the monthly trading window.

Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for March delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, was trading at $13.30 per barrel below the WTI benchmark, according to NE2 Canada Inc, having settled at $13 per barrel below the U.S. crude benchmark on Monday.

Despite widening to start the month, the WCS heavy differential could tighten as extreme cold threatens oil production in Alberta and inventories draw down, an industry source said.

Cold weather hit production by Imperial Oil, which missed profit estimates.

Global oil prices ended little changed, as geopolitical tensions and tight global supplies supported the market even as some speculated that OPEC+ might boost supplies more than expected.