據(jù)油價網(wǎng)2022年9月20日報道，交易商和分析師對路透社表示，由于政府10月結(jié)束戰(zhàn)略石油儲備（SPR）原油出售計劃后，美國煉廠料將恢復大量購買加拿大原油，加拿大原油價格屆時可能很快出現(xiàn)提振。 

美國政府3月批準在未來6個月內(nèi)每天從SPR釋放100萬桶原油，以降低油價，并可能通過與公司簽訂未來以固定價格購買石油的合同來提高國內(nèi)原油產(chǎn)量。 

由于6個月內(nèi)釋放的1.8億桶SPR原油主要是含硫原油，今年夏天，西加拿大精選原油（WCS）相對于美國基準WT原油的折讓幅度有所擴大。WCS是在艾伯塔省哈迪斯蒂交付的加拿大油砂原油的基準價格。

美國此次SPR原油的釋放將在10月份結(jié)束，美國煉油廠將增加從加拿大和其他含硫和重質(zhì)原油生產(chǎn)國的原油進口。 

大宗商品數(shù)據(jù)提供商Kpler美洲首席石油分析師Matt Smith對路透社表示：“當SPR原油釋放結(jié)束后，美國煉油廠將再次更加依賴加拿大原油或海運原油進口?！?/p>

分析師說，這將縮小加拿大原油基準價格相對于美國基準價格的折讓幅度。 

今年夏天，WCS的折讓幅度已擴大至每桶比WTI原油低20美元。根據(jù)艾伯塔省能源監(jiān)管機構(gòu)的數(shù)據(jù)，去年WTI-WCS的平均價差為每桶12.78美元。在地緣政治沖突和美國為應(yīng)對高油價而釋放SPR原油引起的市場動蕩之前，該監(jiān)管機構(gòu)曾預(yù)計WTI-WCS的價差今年平均每桶為14美元。 

李峻 編譯自油價網(wǎng)

原文如下：

U.S. Refiners May Soon Purchase More Canadian Crude

Oil Price.com

September 20, 2022

Canada’s benchmark heavy oil price could soon see a boost as U.S. refiners are expected to return to buying large volumes of Canadian crude once the massive releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) by the Administration end in October, traders and analysts tell Reuters.

The U.S. Administration authorized in March the release of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) from the SPR over a period of six months in a bid to lower oil prices and potentially boost domestic production through contracts with companies to purchase future oil at fixed prices. The SPR releases are a response to the disruption of global oil markets that have led to soaring oil and gas prices.  

Since the 180-million-barrel SPR release over six months is mostly of sour crude, the discount of Western Canadian Select (WCS)—the benchmark price of oil from Canada’s oil sands delivered at Hardisty, Alberta—relative to the U.S. benchmark WTI has widened this summer. 

With the expected end of the SPR releases next month, U.S. refiners are set to boost imports of crude from Canada and from other producers of sour and heavier crudes. 

“When the SPR releases finish, these refiners will look to lean harder again on Canadian barrels or seaborne imports,” Matt Smith, lead oil analyst for the Americas at Kpler, told Reuters.  

This would narrow the discount of the Canadian oil benchmark to the U.S. benchmark, analysts say.

This summer, the WCS discount has widened to $20 per barrel below WTI. Last year, the WTI-WCS price differential averaged $12.78 per barrel, according to the Alberta Energy Regulator. Before the market turmoil caused by the war and the SPR releases in the U.S. in response to the high oil prices, the regulator expected the WTI-WCS price differential to average $14.00 per barrel this year.