EDMONTON - The Alberta government has announced another easing of restrictions on oil production, saying the amount that can be produced will increase in May by 25,000 barrels per day and another 25,000 barrels per day in June.

The province mandated production cuts at the start of this year in an effort to reduce a price discount on oil produced in Western Canada, which is due to a lack of pipeline and rail capacity.

The province says in a news release that less diluent is needed to move the bitumen through pipelines when the weather is warmer, meaning there's more capacity.

The Alberta government initially ordered production of raw crude oil and bitumen to be cut by 325,000 barrels per day.

Since then, the province has eased the mandatory cuts as the discount for Western Canadian Select bitumen-blend oil compared with New York-traded West Texas Intermediate has fallen.

It says that when both increases are in effect in June, it will represent a total increase of 150,000 barrels a day since the start of the production limit policy on Jan. 1.