Discount on Western Canada Select widens - BOE Report

The discount on Western Canada Select, WCS, crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures widened slightly on Wednesday. WCS for November delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $25.55 a barrel below the US benchmark WTI, compared with $25.50 on Tuesday, according to brokerage CalRock. The discount remains more than $10 wider than it was at this point in last month’s trading cycle and is wider than it has been since 2023.

The discount on Western Canada Select (WCS) crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures widened again on Thursday, as soaring global freight prices continue to put pressure on Canadian barrels re-exported off the US Gulf Coast. WCS for November delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $25.20 a barrel below the US benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared with $25.15 on Wednesday. The discount remains more than $10 wider than it was at this point in last month’s trading cycle and remains wider than it has been since 2023.

OTTAWA — Canada’s trade surplus widened substantially in August to $4.2 billion, data showed on Tuesday, as exporters rushed to increase shipments to the U. S. before President Donald Trump’s new tariffs took effect. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast that the trade surplus would expand to $1.55 billion from an upwardly revised $787 million. As exporters shipped more to the U. S. to beat the looming new 50 per cent tariffs from the Trump administration, Canada’s exports to the country surged 8.1 per cent in August, while imports were down 2.5 per cent, Statistics Canada reported. Latest economic news on BNNBloomberg.caThis change helped Canada post a trade surplus with the U. S. of $11.2 billion, a 19-month high, lifting its share of exports to its biggest trading partner to almost 70 per cent for the first time since September 2025. Trump’s new tariffs, which cover roughly US$20 billion of Canadian exports to the U. S., came into effect on August 22. Economists have said that September would show a more accurate impact of the new tariffs, which apply to a variety of products including wine, furniture, dairy products, cement, clothing, fishing rods and hockey equipment.