Western Canada Select discount widens slightly

Western Canada Select (WCS) crude’s discount to the benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) edged wider on Friday.

WCS for April delivery in Hardisty, Alberta traded between $16.40 and $16.35 a barrel under the WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, having traded between $16.20 and $15.95 a barrel under WTI on Thursday.

The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which will nearly triple the flow of oil to Canada’s west coast, will start shipping crude in the first quarter of 2024, the crown corporation building the Canadian government-owned pipeline said on Friday.

The cost of the project has jumped 44% from last year’s estimate to C$30.9 billion ($22.35 billion).

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) CLc1 rose 96 cents, or 1.3%, at $76.68 after better-than-expected U.S. employment data.