Fragmentation seen holding back Canadian oil derivatives

Rival WCS indexes hinder growth of financial trading, firms argue

Despite some improvement in liquidity in Canadian heavy crude oil derivatives, financial trading in Western Canadian Select (WCS) has yet to really take off, market participants complained during a panel discussion at Energy Risk Canada in Calgary on June 17.

Perry Undseth, president and chief executive of One Exchange, a Calgary-based energy broker, voiced disappointment that the market had not yet coalesced around a single, unified benchmark contract for Canadian heavy crude – a contract that