Heavy crude tightens on first day of new monthly trade cycle

Canadian heavy crude’s discount to West Texas Intermediate (WTI) tightened on Monday as the new monthly trade cycle got started: Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for March delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, last traded at $12.70 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada Inc. On Friday, the Canadian heavy benchmark settled at $14.30 per barrel below WTI. Two industry sources said there was strong demand for WCS among refineries, which are buying in anticipation of high apportionment on export pipelines this month. Higher apportionment means shippers can only send a smaller percentage of their nominated barrels on pipelines. Demand for Canadian heavy in the U.S. Gulf Coast remains strong, one of the sources added. Light synthetic crude from the oil sands for March delivery last traded at $2.75 a barrel below WTI, having settled at $3.05 a barrel below U.S. futures on Friday. Global oil prices settled more than 2% higher, buoyed by falling U.S. crude inventories and rising winter fuel demand due to one of the worst snowstorms to hit the U.S. Northeast in years.

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