Despite continued takeaway capacity constraints, Canada’s top two oil producers raised their production in the second quarter, as demand for heavy Canadian oil among U.S. Gulf Coast refiners has been rising at a time when Venezuelan heavy oil supply is dwindling. Due to the transportation bottlenecks, the discount at which Western Canadian Select (WCS) —the benchmark price of oil from Canada’s oil sands delivered at Hardisty, Alberta—trades relative to WTI has been US$20, and at times US$30 a barrel this year. However, the desperate state of the Venezuelan oil industry has reduced heavy Venezuelan oil exports to the United States, and refiners are looking for more Canadian barrels to buy. Cenovus Energy reported on Thursday a 61-percent surge in second-quarter production, to 518,530 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed). Oil sands production jumped by 49 percent on the year to 390,000 bpd, and the company boasted record low […]