Pipeline Crunch Cost Canadian Heavy Oil Producers Over $14 Billion

The many delays in expanding oil pipeline takeaway capacity out of Alberta have cost Canada’s producers of heavy crude oil at least US$14 billion between 2015 and 2019, IHS Markit said in a new analysis on Tuesday. Canada’s heavy crude usually trades at discounts to the U.S. benchmark because production is landlocked and away from major markets and it is compared to different crudes. However, the pipeline constraints over the past half-decade have additionally widened the discount at which Western Canadian Select trades relative to…