Western Canada Select discount widens

WCS for April delivery in Hardisty, Alberta traded between $15.35 and $15.70 a barrel under the WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, having traded between $15.30 and $15.20 a barrel under WTI on Monday.

In recent weeks, the price of WCS for delivery in Hardisty has been affected by crude quality discounting pressure at the U.S. Gulf Coast.

“We’ve been tightening for a while now, and it’s all been driven by quality related issues at the U.S. Gulf Coast,” said Rory Johnston, founder of the Commodity Context newsletter.

Light synthetic crude from the oil sands for April delivery traded $3.25 and $3.50 a barrel over WTI, according to CalRock.

Oil prices fell by $3 a barrel on Tuesday after comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stoked rate hike fears, the dollar strengthened and top crude importer China issued weak data.