Temperatures of -30 degrees Celsius and lower have descended on Alberta and Saskatchewan – cold enough to render the region’s viscous oil rock solid. (Bloomberg) — An arctic blast sweeping across Western Canada is weighing on the price of heavy crude. Temperatures of -30 degrees Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit) and lower have descended on Alberta and Saskatchewan — cold enough to render the region’s viscous oil rock solid. To transport it, producers must blend in more of a lighter crude called condensate, thereby reducing the volume that can be shipped by pipeline and increasing transportation costs, according to Kevin Birn, IHS Markit’s director of North American crude oil markets. At the same time, trains that are shipping crude out of the pipeline-bottlenecked region must move slower in the chillier weather. Local demand for the oil is also threatened. On Tuesday, operations at Imperial Oil Ltd.’s refinery near Edmonton were disrupted […]