This should support WCS prices CALGARY, Alberta, March 9 (Reuters) - Shell (SHEL.L) has issued a force majeure at its 300,000 barrel per day Scotford, Alberta, upgrader in western Canada after a unit at the facility tripped, a company spokesman said on Wednesday.
The plant, which processes oil sands bitumen into light synthetic crude, is also scheduled to start a 65-day maintenance turnaround this month, according to an investor presentation from Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNQ.TO), which owns a share of Scotford.
Two trading sources said Shell had cut March deliveries by approximately 20%. One of the sources said the force majeure had been issued last week, but the impact was muted because Scotford's expected output for March had already been reduced by half because of the turnaround due to start next week.
Canadian light synthetic crude for April delivery settled at $6.85 per barrel over the West Texas Intermediate benchmark,