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 Biden 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 caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions 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 […]