Discount on Western Canada Select narrows

The discount on Western Canada Select to the North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures CL1! was trading slightly higher during the Tuesday session.

WCS for August delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, was trading at $10.25 a barrel under the U.S. benchmark WTI, brokers said, 5 cents up from Monday's settlement price of $10.30, according to brokerage CalRock.

• Summer and the return of road construction season are a seasonally strong time of year for Canadian heavy crude, which is used by U.S. refiners to produce asphalt.

• The WCS discount has widened slightly since last month, when concerns about wildfires in Canada's oil-producing regions led to a temporary tightening. But pricing for Canadian crude remains historically strong, in part due to the opening of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which boosted the country's oil export capacity to Asian markets.