Canada’s benchmark heavy oil price rising

摘要

Houston-Traders continue to see heavy Canadian crude gaining strength as US refineries exit turnarounds, but pressure from competing Mexican crudes and low prices throughout the Gulf Coast are pushing differentials in Cushing below transportation costs. Movements between Canada and the Gulf Coast rely as much on committed volumes as spot arbitrage, and the still-wide NYMEX crude contango offers an incentive of its own for shippers to bring Canadian barrels south. But this pressure could begin to impact prices further upstream if the spread remains narrow.