Western Canadian Producers Anxiously Watch Global Oil Price Plunge, an Industrial Info Market Brief

---

Energy producers in Western Canada are keeping an anxious eye on the recent drop in oil prices amid the global COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. On Monday, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said he was frustrated by the price drop and its impact on the province's economy, adding the region was being "sideswiped" by global events. He said Alberta was better positioned to weather low prices, because oil companies have used lean times to find ways to reduce operating costs, according to the Canadian Press.

Western Canadian Select (WCS) crude from Alberta's oil sands usually sells at a favorable price differential to benchmark crudes such as West Texas Intermediate, but that differential has narrowed in recent weeks.

The plunging price of WTI puts direct pressure on oil sands production, as demand shrinks and the spread thins. Industrial Info is now identifying major downtime for these Canadian producers due to low prices.

Industrial Info is tracking 46 oil upgrader facility outages for the remainder of 2020 in Western Canada. These include major outages at three facilities that will overlap during May through June. Click here for the list of outages. Industrial Info also is tracking $155 million in related project activity. Click here for the project list and see map below.