Heavy crude discount narrows again

The Canadian heavy oil discountnarrowed against the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark onThursday.

* Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for Maydelivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $15.05 a barrel belowthe WTI benchmark crude price , according to ShorcanEnergy brokers, compared with Wednesday's settle of $15.25.

* The discount has narrowed in recent weeks as producerslike Canadian Natural Resources , faced with transportation issues and the wide differential, have slowedoutput of heavy crude, analysts and traders said.

* Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will hold anemergency meeting on Sunday with the premiers of two provinceslocked in a dispute over Kinder Morgan Canada's TransMountain pipeline expansion.

* 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 May deliverylast traded at $2.20 below WTI, slightly narrower thanWednesday's settle of $2.25.

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