June 11 (Reuters) - The discount on Western Canada

Select (WCS) to the North American benchmark West Texas

Intermediate (WTI) futures widened slightly on Wednesday.

WCS for July delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $8.90

a barrel under the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage

CalRock, compared with $8.80 a barrel to Tuesday's trade.

* WCS discounts have been tight in recent days, partly due

to the

wildfire situation in Western Canada.

* Last week, wildfires burning in Canada's oil-producing

province

of Alberta prompted several oil sands operations to evacuate

workers as a precaution. About 344,000 barrels per day of

production, or about 7% of Canada's average daily crude

production, was disrupted as a result.

* Oil and gas producer MEG Energy ( MEGEF ) said its

Christina Lake

regional project in Alberta was ramping up to full operations,

following recent regional wildfires south of the facility.

Canada's largest crude producer, Canadian Natural Resources ( CNQ )

, restarted operations at its Jackfish 1 site.

* Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on Wednesday the

province is

working to present Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney with a

proponent and route for a potential new crude pipeline from

Alberta to the Port of Prince Rupert in British Columbia.

* Global oil prices rose more than 4% on Wednesday, to their

highest in more than two months, after sources said the U.S. was

preparing to evacuate its Iraqi embassy due to heightened

security concerns in the Middle East.