Western Canada Select heavy oil discount narrows slightly

Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy crude’s discount to the benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) tightened on Tuesday.

WCS for May delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded between $16.00 and $15.50 a barrel under WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, after having traded between $16.30 and $15.80 a barrel under the U.S. benchmark on Monday.

The Canadian heavy crude benchmark remains in sight of recent 11-month highs hit last week of around $14.00 a barrel under WTI.

Parkland Corp’s 55,000 barrel-per-day Burnaby, British Columbia, refinery has returned to normal operations after an eight-week turnaround, the company said on Tuesday.

Global oil prices rose about 2% on hopes that the Federal Reserve might ease up on its policy tightening after a key U.S. inflation report this week, though concerns remain over Chinese demand.

The outright price of WCS was just under $66 a barrel.