RE:RE:RE:RE:From CJ board at ceo.caThe biggest problem with the SPR release for the last 7 months is that the oil being released into the market is in direct competition with the heavy oil (WCS) that Canadian companies produce and send to the United States.
Since the SPR release started, the WCS - WTI differential has grown from about $12 / barrel to $29 / barrel. It is true that not all of this difference can be blamed on the SPR release. There have been other factors too like plants being down for maintenance and not being available in the U.S. to take Canadian crude.
Once the SPR tap is finally closed, even if the price of WTI oil stays exactly the same, there is a lot of room for the WCS differential to deccrease in the coming months. This will put more money in the pockets of Canadian oil company's and ultimately their shareholders.
Here is a graph that shows how this differential has changed this year.
https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/NYMEX-WCW1!/?utm_campaign=tickers&utm_medium=widget_new&utm_source=www.oilsandsmagazine.com