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

WCS for November delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $20.80 a barrel under WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, having settled at $20.95 a barrel under the benchmark on Thursday.

Line fill on the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion will start in the first quarter of 2024 and take about six to seven weeks to complete, the Canadian government-owned corporation building the project said on Friday.

Filling the pipeline will require around 4.5 million barrels, Trans Mountain said. The demand is expected to tighten Canadian crude differentials.

Global oil prices rose on the day, but posted their steepest weekly losses since March on demand fears due to macroeconomic headwinds.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia; Editing by Maju Samuel)