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Estimates on the cost to the economy vary wildly, but the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers officially estimates the impact as at least $13 billion in the first 10 months of 2018.

It estimates the cost at about $50 million per day in October as discounts for Western Canadian Select bitumen-blend crude oil versus New York-traded West Texas Intermediate peaked at more than US$52 per barrel.

“The differential has blown out to such an extreme level for two reasons, the lack of access to markets and the fact we really have only one customer (the United States),” said Tim McMillan, CEO of CAPP.

Getting an exact number on how much discounts are costing Canada is all but impossible thanks to ingrained sector secrecy about transportation and marketing, he said, adding it’s entirely possible the real costs could be as high as $100 billion per year.

Producers’ exposure to WCS prices differ depending on what kind of oil they produce, where they sell it and how they transport it.

Calgary-based Imperial Oil Ltd., for instance, says about one-quarter of its output of 300,000 barrels of bitumen per day is influenced by WCS pricing — the rest is used in its Canadian refineries or shipped by pipe or rail to the U.S. Gulf Coast where it gets close to WTI prices.

The company announced last week it will build a 75,000-bpd oilsands project, going on faith that pipelines will be in place for when production begins in about four years (a prospect that took a hit Thursday when a U.S. judge put TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline on hold until more environmental study is done).