The discount on Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy crude versus the North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) deepened on Friday:
* The discount on WCS for February delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded between $19.60 and $19.25 under WTI, according to brokerage CalRock. On Thursday, it opened at $18.15 a barrel under WTI before weakening to a low of $19 under WTI.
* Timing of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion entering service is a key issue swaying Canadian heavy oil prices, said Martin King, managing director of North American energy market analysis at consultancy RBN Energy.
* Trans Mountain plans to begin line fill of its expanded pipeline in March or May, depending on the diameter of pipe it uses and assuming no new problems, the Canadian government-owned company said on Wednesday.
* TD Securities said in a note that it estimates the Trans Mountain expansion coming online in the second half of 2024.
* Expanding oil production and rising apportionment on pipelines are also weighing on Canadian prices, King said.
* Suncor Energy, Canada’s second-largest oil producer, recorded its second-highest quarterly upstream production in the last three months of 2023.
* Global oil prices rose as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepared to visit the Middle East to try to contain regional tensions as the Israel-Hamas conflict rages.
(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Editing by Pooja Desai)
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