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CALGARY – Canadian oil producers, hit hard by persistently low crude prices and a recent increase in the value of the loonie, could get a boost from a potential U.S. ban on oil imports from Venezuela.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly considering a ban on Venezuelan crude as part of package of sanctions to punish president Nicolas Maduro desire to change the country’s constitution and crackdown on political dissent.

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Analysts say Canadian heavy crude oil prices would improve if a ban on Venezuelan crude forced U.S. Gulf Coast refineries to the replace heavy volumes they source from the South American country. Western Canada Select, the heavy oil benchmark, was trading at $45.04, compared to $39.17 a year ago, according to data from the Petroleum Services Association website.

“The U.S. would have to find substitutes elsewhere,” GMP FirstEnergy analyst and commodity forecaster Martin King said. “If they did enact something like that, it would be undeniably a boost for Canadian heavy crude oil and you’d probably see that differential tighten up even more than it already has.”