June 11 (Reuters) - The discount on Western Canada

Select (WCS) heavy crude versus the North American benchmark

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) widened on Tuesday:

* WCS for July delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded at

$13.25 a barrel below WTI, according to brokerage CalRock,

having settled at $12.85 a barrel under the benchmark on Monday.

* There was some speculation in the market that the widening

could be due to the 890,000 barrel-per-day Trans Mountain

pipeline expansion not shipping as much crude as anticipated,

one Calgary-based broker said.

* The expanded Trans Mountain pipeline started commercial

operations at the start of last month.

* Global oil prices settled slightly higher as the U.S.

Energy Information Administration (EIA) raised its global oil

demand growth forecast for the year, while OPEC stuck to its

forecast for relatively strong growth in 2024.