Alberta heavy oil price up almost 80% since March The price of heavy oil from Canada's oilsands has quietly rebounded by 77 per cent in the past six weeks, far better than the comeback in other types of crude.
Most of the oil that Canada produces is called Western Canada Select, the benchmark blend of thicker, tarry bitumen-based crude oil that comes mostly from Alberta's oilsands. The price of WCS has stormed back from $29.71 a barrel on March 17, to $52.63 on May 6. That's an increase of more than 77 per cent in a little over 30 trading day.
What's more, it is almost twice as much as the surge seen in the North American benchmark WTI — West Texas Intermediate — over the same time period. And it's almost three times as much as the price surge seen in Brent, which is the type of oil that's the benchmark just about everywhere else in the world.