OIL: Little Impact on US West Coast Refiners So Far from TMX

US West Coast refiners have seen little impact so far from Canada's expanded TMX oil pipeline, according to Reuters citing companies operating in the region.

• Crude costs for refiners could decline in the coming months with lower Alaskan North Slope prices due to competition from the incremental Canadian heavy barrels.
• The refiners were expected to be a key location for the delivery of the Canadian barrels. However, about two thirds of the TMX barrels have been exported to Asia since operations began in May, said Brian Mandell at Phillips 66. Access to lower-cost heavy barrels from Canada were expected to help boost earnings at refining operations in California and Washington.
• Canadian heavy oil was expected to displace some supply from the West Coast from Latin America or the Middle East, said Paul Cheng at Scotiabank.
• The spare pipeline capacity has failed to boost Canadian crude prices in first three months, which had been expected by many analysts.
• West Coast refiners are still testing for any issues or inefficiencies impacting yields due to using Canadian heavy sour crude.