Heavy Oil Differential Holds Steady

* WCS for May delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $13.75 per barrel below WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, closing at the same level as the previous day.

* Canadian heavy crude differentials have tightened in recent weeks in anticipation of the 600,000 barrel-per-day Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project starting to ship crude. Trans Mountain said last week it would start operating on May 1.

* “People are now in a wait and see position because the move (in prices) has been made,” one Calgary-based broker said.

* Global oil prices settled lower for a second day as talks for a ceasefire in Gaza continued, but losses were limited to less than a dollar a barrel as Egyptian and Qatari mediators met resistance in their search to find a way out of the war.

(Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia)