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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery added 27 cents to $69.92 on the New York Merc, while Brent for May added 24 cents to $74.03 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $12.60 to WTI, up from a discount of $13.00. Natural gas for April added nine cents to $3.95. The TSX energy index lost 1.98 points to close at 274.26.

Oil sands giant Suncor Energy Inc. (SU) lost 23 cents to $55.29 on 4.3 million shares. Its name was in the news today as Rongsheng Petrochemical, China's largest independent refiner, opened a Canadian office -- in Calgary -- and promptly made its first purchase, from Suncor. The crude is set to arrive in China in June, according to Reuters. The report did not specify the size of the cargo.

The move underscores Rongsheng's rising interest in Canadian crude. While this marks its first purchase since opening a Canadian office, the Chinese mega-refiner has bought Canadian crude before; in fact it has been a repeat customer since the opening of the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline last year. It made headlines after buying its first TMX cargo, 500,000 barrels, via a tender from France's TotalEnergies in June. Even bigger purchases followed in August, including 1.65 million barrels from Exxon's Kearl Lake project, along with two 550,000-barrel cargoes from Totsa (TotalEnergies' trading arm). Traders have been watching these deals closely to gauge Asian appetite for Canadian crude. Rongsheng's move to open a local office and buy from a local producer, Suncor, is being taken as a sign of strengthening Sino-Canadian ties, especially in the current environment of U.S. tariff concerns.

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