(Bloomberg) -- Heavy crude oil in Alberta has weakened to the lowest price relative to US futures in more than four years.
Western Canadian Select’s discount — also called a differential — in Alberta grew to $31 a barrel compared to a monthly average of West Texas Intermediate as of Tuesday, the widest since October 2022, General Index prices show.
On the US Gulf Coast, Canadian heavy crude’s discount expanded to $23.50, the largest in data stretching back to 2018, according to Link Data Services.
The gap is being driven by a supply build-up in the Gulf of Venezuelan imports and high tanker rates that make exporting oil expensive.
While many of the biggest Alberta oil sands producers own refineries that provide a natural hedge to the widening differential for Canadian crude oil, the growing discount has prevented pure producers from fully benefiting from the run-up in oil prices due to the Iran War.