Canadian crude oil discount to U.S. prices widest since 2018

The weakness of Canadian heavy crude prices relative to U.S. crude futures has reached the highest level since 2018, when massive pipeline bottlenecks forced the Alberta government to impose production limits on the largest oil producers. According to price data from Modern Commodities and General Index, in early trading on November 3, the discount of Western Canadian Select crude in Alberta relative to the monthly average futures price of West Texas Intermediate widened to $31.70 per barrel, the largest discount since November 2018. Another benchmark crude, Canadian Cold Lake crude, also saw its discount at the U.S. Gulf Coast reach an extremely high level not seen in eight years, at $23.10.