The discount on Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy crude versus the North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) widened on Friday:

WCS for December delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $27.85 a barrel under WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, weakening from $27.40 a barrel under WTI under Thursday.

Canadian heavy crude differentials have come under steady selling pressure in recent weeks due to overlapping refinery turnarounds that hurt demand and rising oil sands supply, market players said.

Increasing congestion on the Enbridge Mainline, despite the oil pipeline system shipping record third-quarter volumes, also weighed on differentials.

Canadian crude industry players are awaiting the start-up of the 590,000 barrel-per-day Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which is expected to help narrow differentials once it starts operating next year. However, on Thursday the long-delayed project hit another snag when Canadian regulators issued a stop-work order for environmental non-compliances.

Benchmark oil prices settled more than 2% lower as supply concerns driven by Middle East tensions eased, while jobs data raised expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve could be done hiking interest rates in the biggest oil consuming economy.O/R

The outright price of WCS was less than $53 a barrel.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)