North Dakota, Canadian Sweet Crude Oils Plunge as Supplies Rise

North Dakota and Canadian sweet oil discounts to West Texas Intermediate plunged as supplies rise and pipeline restrictions limit the movement of some grades next month.

Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for the U.S. benchmark oil, the grade traded in New York, rose 360,000 barrels to a record 47.8 million on June 15, Energy Department data showed. TransCanada Corp. (TRP) will temporarily restrict some light sweet crudes on its Keystone pipeline starting in July, a person with knowledge of the situation said May 31.

Bakken oil’s discount widened $7 to $13 below WTI at 4:10 p.m. in New York, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Syncrude’s discount increased 75 cents to $3.50 below the U.S. benchmark. Syncrude is a synthetic oil upgraded from tarlike bitumen in Alberta into refinery-ready crude.

Western Canada Select’s discount widened $3 to $26.50 a barrel.

On the U.S. Gulf Coast, Light Louisiana Sweet’s premium to WTI lost $1.15 a barrel to $12.35 a barrel. Heavy Louisiana Sweet strengthened $1.35 to $13.60 over WTI.

Poseidon’s premium to WTI lost 25 cents to $8 a barrel. Southern Green Canyon’s premium added $1.40 a barrel to $8.50. Mars Blend’s premium lost 25 cents to $9 a barrel.

Thunder Horse, a sour crude with lower sulfur content than Mars, Poseidon and Southern Green Canyon, lost $1.45 to $11 a barrel over WTI.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Clark in New York at aclark27@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net