Heavy crude discount widens, synthetic narrows slightly

The discount on Canadian heavy crude oil versus U.S. crude oil futures edged wider on Friday:

* Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for July delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, last traded at $14.10 per barrel below West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil, according to Net Energy Exchange. On Thursday, WCS for July delivery settled at $14.00 a barrel below WTI crude futures.

* Heavy crude differentials widened from the start of the week, when the discount had narrowed sharply on concerns about wildfires in Alberta, a move that some market players said was overdone.

* Canadian Natural Resources Ltd last week shut in 65,000 barrels per day of crude and evacuated its Pelican Lake and Woodenhouse operations because of nearby fires. Canadian Natural has not said when production is expected to resume.

* Alberta crude oil production is currently capped at 3.71 million bpd. The provincial government imposed mandatory production cuts effective Jan. 1 to help drain a glut of crude in storage that was weighing on prices.

* Light synthetic crude from the oil sands for June delivery settled at $1.75 per barrel below U.S. crude, narrowing marginally from Thursday's settle of $1.80 a barrel below WTI.

* U.S. crude futures rose $1.40 to $53.99, rallying after Saudi Arabia said OPEC was close to agreeing to extend an output production cut beyond June and as Wall Street rallied.

(Reporting by Nia Williams Editing by Tom Brown)