WCS may start to gain a newfound appreciation
WCS to arrive on the global stage
New pipeline capacity may transform the role of Canada’s key heavy sour crude and its price after a few false dawns
Canada’s benchmark heavy sour crude, Western Canadian Select (WCS), stands ready to play a bigger role in the global oil market. The North American grade—based on more than 400,000bl/d produced by four oil sands producers—is a marker for other Canadian heavy blends and is generally exported to the US, where it is refined in the US Midwest and Gulf Coast. Some 20 years after its launch, this cheap heavy crude may finally start to gain a newfound appreciation—and fewer constraints—once the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project comes online at some point in 2024. “The twists and turns in the pricing saga of Western Canada’s heavy crude oil marker, WCS, are seemingly endless,” Martin King, m
Also in this section
11 March 2025
Direct air capture is still in its infancy, but organisations are seeking to leverage global collaborations and AI to discover new materials, with an aim of scaling up the technology and cutting costs
11 March 2025
Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Nigeria and Kazakhstan all add significant volumes as core OPEC-9 feels the strain of compliance
11 March 2025
Investor certainty key to diversifying country’s oil and gas exports amid fresh talk of improving infrastructure to boost energy security
10 March 2025
Oil sands will be complemented by conventional and shale output growth and supply opportunities improved by the Trans Mountain Pipeline, but the tariff threat remains
