Heavy crude discount widens again

The Canadian heavy oil discount widenedon Wednesday against the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmarkas U.S. oil prices strengthened and planned maintenance at amajor oil sand project was moved forward, impacting output.

* Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for Aprildelivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $25.85 a barrel belowthe WTI benchmark crude price , according to ShorcanEnergy brokers, compared with Tuesday's settle of $25.50.

* U.S. oil prices, including WTI, gained as large distillateand gasoline inventory draws outweighed a bigger-than-expectedU.S. crude stock build.

* Suncor Energy Inc said on Wednesday that plannedmaintenance at the Syncrude oil sand joint venture in NorthernAlberta had been moved forward, with the project now expected torun at reduced rates in the first quarter.

* A glut of stranded barrels in Western Canada is expectedto remain until a deal is reached between shippers and railcompanies to move more Canadian heavy crudes to the U.S. Gulf.

* An expected return of TransCanada Corp's Keystonepipeline to full pressure, following a November leak, would helpreduce the discount, traders have said.

* Light synthetic crude from the oil sands for Aprildelivery last traded at $1.25 over WTI, a smaller premium thanTuesday's settle of $2.10.

(Reporting by Julie Gordon in Vancouver; Editing by DianeCraft)