Heavy oil differential trades slightly wider

The discount on benchmark heavy Canadian crude versus West Texas Intermediate traded slightly wider on Thursday, the first day of the new trading cycle.

Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for October delivery in Hardisty, Alberta traded as wide as $21.25 a barrel below WTI, a trader said. It has traded in a rough range of $20 to $25 below WTI since spring.

Release of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve continues to help widen the WCS-WTI discount, along with Russia discounting its Urals medium sour crude, RBN Energy senior analyst Martin King said.

BP Plc’s Whiting, Indiana refinery, a major buyer of Canadian heavy crude, was restarting production units on Wednesday, sources said.

Canada’s Trans Mountain Pipeline said it apportioned nominations by 8% for September.

Global oil prices tumbled as new COVID-19 lockdown measures in China added to worries that high inflation and interest rate hikes are denting fuel demand.