Heavy crude differential tightens to narrowest in over a year

The Canadian heavy oil differential narrowed against the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark on Monday, climbing to the strongest level in more than a year, after Alberta mandated production curtailments to clear a glut:

* Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for January delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled on Thursday at $12.25 a barrel below WTI crude futures , narrower than Friday's level of about $15.35, according to traders. That was the strongest level since October 2017.

* Light synthetic crude from the oil sands for January delivery was seen at about $11 under WTI, dealers said.

* Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said last week her government would force producers to cut output by 8.7 percent, or 325,000 barrels per day (bpd), until excess crude in storage is reduced.

* The improvement in the differential, which hit a record spread above $50 in October, is helpful for Canada's oil industry, analysts said, noting that the sector could still benefit from a higher U.S. benchmark price.

* Benchmark oil prices fell nearly 3 percent on Monday, echoing the weakness in global stock markets as the focus returned to concerns about growth in demand and crude prices erased some of the gains made last week on an OPEC-led decision to cut output.

(Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; Editing by Sandra Maler)