In recent months, the price differential of heavy, sour crude oil grades such as Canada’s Western Canadian Select (WCS) have contracted to their narrowest level in two years. WCS for delivery to refiners and exporters in the Gulf Coast region is priced as a differential to the NYMEX-CME Calendar Month Average (CMA) crude oil price.
In June 2025, WCS in the Gulf Coast region averaged a discount of ($2.18)/bbl below CMA (green-dashed circle below), trading within a narrow band of ($1.50)/bbl and ($3.00)/bbl throughout the month. In June 2024, WCS averaged a significantly wider discount of ($6.68/bbl), and traded as wide as ($7.50)/bbl below CMA throughout the month (red-dashed circle below).
