Syncrude Rises as Aurora Steam Generator Said to Be Offline

Syncrude oil on the spot market gained against benchmark West Texas Intermediate after Syncrude Canada Ltd. was said to shut a steam generator at its Aurora project site near Fort McMurray, Alberta.

The outage may last a month, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be identified because it isn’t public.

Steam generators help separate bitumen from mined oil sand and oil sand slurry. The tarlike bitumen is then processed at Syncrude Canada’s 350,000-barrel-a-day upgrader into a light, sweet, synthetic oil blend that is shipped to North American refiners.

Syncrude’s premium to WTI rose 50 cents to $14.25 a barrel at 2:07 p.m. New York time, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Syncrude’s premium rose to a 13-month high of $15.50 a barrel Sept. 10 as upgrader maintenance reduced supply.

Bakken’s premium to WTI rose $1.25 to $5.75 a barrel. Western Canada Select’s discount narrowed 50 cents to $9.50.

Light Louisiana Sweet’s discount to WTI rose 65 cents to $18 a barrel, the highest level since Aug. 24. Heavy Louisiana Sweet fell 95 cents to a premium of $18.25.

Among sour crudes, Mars Blend’s premium widened 45 cents to $13.25, Poseidon’s premium widened 20 cents to $13.20, Thunder Horse’s premium narrowed 25 cents to $16.75 and Southern Green Canyon’s premium narrowed 10 cents to $11.50.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Murtaugh in Houston at dmurtaugh@bloomberg.net

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