Canada’s oil producers can’t catch a break. Even as local production cuts help alleviate pipeline bottlenecks, heavy crude plunged below $18 a barrel for the first time since 2016 -- dragged down by global oil prices. “The differentials are holding to modestly improving but the global prices are sliding,” Kevin Birn, a director on the North American crude oil markets team at IHS Markit, said in a phone interview. “We called it a double whammy.” Oil sands producers including Canadian Natural Resource Ltd., Devon Energy Corp., Cenovus Energy Inc. and Athabasca Oil Corp. have announced curtailments that may total ... (full story)