The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, Oct. 13, edition that National Bank Financial analysts Travis Wood and Dan Payne are of a mind that Canadian energy companies are in a good spot to benefit from future strength in Western Canadian Select oil, predicting it could become "a dominant global heavy benchmark." The Globe's David Leeder writes that the National Bank analysts, with their commodity price forecast adjustments, raised their total cash flow estimates for companies in their coverage universe by 4 per cent in 2023 and 14 per cent in 2024. They raised their share target for Canadian Natural Resources, which they rate "sector perform," by $10 to $100. Analysts on average target the shares at $95.62. Mr. Wood and Mr. Payne say in a note: "We no longer see WCS as the marginal global heavy barrel. Although the U.S. refining complex will remain the primary consumer of Canadian oil, we think an operational TMX pipeline positions WCS as a global benchmark." The Globe reported on Aug. 4 that Mr. Wood downgraded CNRL to "sector perform" from "outperform." The shares were then worth $81.51. The Globe reported on Sept. 19 that RBC analyst Greg Pardy rated CNRL "outperform." It was then worth $85.94.