Canada's crude oil is trading at a discount of more than $40 a barrel to West Texas Intermediate as a worsening pipeline shortage prevents local producers from enjoying the latest price rally.

it's worth noting the $40 discount only refers to some Canadian heavy contracts for lower-grade crude but even lighter grades trade at a substantial discount of more than $30 a barrel to WTI light crude.

Suncor, Canada's largest oil producer said it will put off production expansion plans until more pipeline capacity is added to the existing network.

The news once more highlights a growing problem for Canadian oil drillers and miners that may see oil-by-rail demand soar by 200 by the early 2020s.

Even though Suncor's chief executive said recent unfavorable court rulings on two pipelines, Keystone

A political dispute sparked by Canada's criticism of Saudi Arabia's detention of women's rights activists will not affect Saudi exports of crude to Canada, Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said.

The official added it is long-standing policy that Saudi Arabia's oil exports are not affected by any political disputes.

The kingdom cut off diplomatic relations with Ottawa earlier this week, accusing it

Troubled Canadian oil producers who have been struggling with a pipeline shortage and lower than comfortable prices as a result are expected to have done well in the second quarter thanks to higher WTI prices.

Canadian crude has been trading at a substantial discount to the US benchmark because of the pipeline constraints in Canada but it has nevertheless benefited from higher international prices,

A power outage that suspended production at an oil sands project kept prices at close to three and a half year highs today.

The U.S. sanction push against Iran also helped, although there have been reports Washington had begun to soften its position towards countries that insist on continuing to import crude from Iran.

Brent crude traded at $77.79 a barrel an hour after midnight GMT today, with

Federal and provincial revenues from oil production in Canada has declined sharply over the last couple of decades and that's despite a substantial increase in production.

In Alberta--the best case in point--state revenues from oil fell from 80% of the province's total in 1979 to just 3.3% in 2016 despite the fact that production doubled between 1980 and 2016. That's according to a new report,

Canadian crude's discount to WTI has expanded, reflecting local producers' troubles with insufficient pipeline capacity.

Some, like Cenovus, are even beginning to scale back production, as Western Canadian Select trading at a discount of $26 to West Texas Intermediate as of Thursday.

The problem is not new but it has been exacerbated recently because of rising oil sands production. While Alberta

Growing oil production in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Norway will keep the world oversupplied despite OPEC's cut efforts, the International Energy Agency said in its latest five-year forecast for the industry.

New crude supply from the U.S. will alone be enough to meet 80% of the growth in demand. The rest will come from Canada, Brazil, and Norway, the IEA said.

This raises the question,

Despite pipeline bottlenecks and underinvestment, Canada's crude oil production from the oil sands of Alberta is set for further growth, IHS Markit research has suggested.

Growth will continue for the next ten years, albeit at a slower pace, the research company said. Executive director Kevin Birn explained that unlike other types of oil deposits, oil sands are virtually unresponsive to

Canadian oil producers are suffering from a shortage of pipeline capacity that is holding them back in the race with their US counterparts.

That's the finding of a new study from the C. D. Howe Institute, which will be the first in a series of annual analyses of the local oil industry.

The analysts only concerns conventional oil wells in Canada and not oil sands were the economics, the author notes,

Petronas has crushed Canada’s hopes of becoming a big player on the international LNG scene.

The Malaysian state energy major announced it had quit the $29-billion Northwest LNG project that would have produced 12 megatonnes of LNG annually in British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada, which would have created a much needed export destination diversification for Canadian gas.

BP is making plans to sell its oilsands business in Canada, joining several other oil majors that recently upped and left Canada.

The company is considering the divestment of three stakes, according to unnamed sources that spoke to Reuters, of which the most valuable is its 50% interest in the Sunrise project, operated by Canadian Husky Energy.

The sale would be another step by BP towards focusing

Chevron is looking for a buyer for its 20% interest in the Athabasca Oil Sands Project in Alberta, media reports say.

The project’s operator is Shell, which, like Chevron declined to comment on the information that came from anonymous sources. If Chevron confirms the reports with actions in the direction of a divestment, it will be the latest in a string of Big Oil majors who exited Alberta’s

ConocoPhillips has sold oilsands and natural gas assets in Canada to local Cenovus for $13.3 billion, retaining control over two projects -- an oilsands operation and an undeveloped land plot.

Cenovus will pay for the acquisition in cash and stocks: $10.6 billion in cash and 208 million shares. Conoco will also be entitled to contingent payments in the next five years in case the Canadian oil

A group of climate change activists yesterday stopped the flow of crude along five pipelines from Canada to the US, cutting as much as 15% of daily consumption in the country.

According to representatives of the group, Climate Direct Action, the move was as demonstration of their support for the Native American tribes protesting against the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline, perhaps the

The rally crude oil enjoyed in the past couple of weeks was just coming to an end, with investors getting pessimistic about further increases, when wildfires threatened production in Alberta, Canada.

The latter event pushed Brent up up 1.6% to $46.08 at half past 12 Am GMT, according to Reuters. WTI was trading at $45.55, up 2%.

The fires in Canada are believed to be the worst in the history of

Oil companies in North America are being forced to make further cost cuts as the price of crude continues down, despite some recent jumps.

According to the Wall Street Journal, companies in the US and Canada are shutting down every well above the bare minimum needed for them to stay afloat. The daily cited a research by AlixPartners that found these companies were burning through 350 million a day