April 11 (Reuters) - The discount on Western Canada

Select (WCS) heavy crude versus the North American benchmark

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) narrowed on Thursday:

* WCS for May delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at

$13.60 a barrel below WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, after

closing at $14.30 a barrel below the benchmark on Wednesday.

* Canadian heavy crude differentials have tightened sharply

this month on news the 600,000 barrel-per-day Trans Mountain

pipeline expansion project would start operating on May 1.

* In a note to clients, Scotiabank analysts said TMX will

likely shift full-year WCS differentials to $$13-$15 a barrel

below WTI, helped by heavy crude refining capacity globally

exceeding heavy oil production growth.

* WCS differentials are also being supported by BP's

Whiting, Indiana, refinery ramping up after an unplanned outage

in February, the start-up of a new Mexican heavy oil refinery

and a lighter U.S. refinery turnaround schedule, Scotiabank

said.

* Global oil prices settled lower as sticky inflation

dampened hopes for near-term U.S. interest rate cuts, but

worries that Iran might attack Israeli interests kept crude near

six-month highs.