Heavy crude differential tightens further

The discount on Canadian heavy crude narrowed on Friday to trade at less than $11 a barrel:* Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for August delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, last traded at $10.65 per barrel below West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil, according to Net Energy Exchange. On Thursday, WCS for August delivery settled at $11.15 a barrel below WTI crude futures.

* Heavy crude differentials have narrowed throughout the week, with traders citing lower western Canadian inventories as a factor supporting prices.

* Data from energy information provider Genscape on Monday showed Western Canadian crude inventories declined slightly in June to 30.5 million barrels.

* The government of Alberta, Canada’s main crude-producing province, has capped oil production for August at 3.74 million barrels per day, easing curtailments from 3.71 million bpd in July.

* Many industry players are attending events at the Calgary Stampede, a 10-day rodeo in Canada’s corporate oil capital that kicked off last Friday.

* Light synthetic crude from the oil sands for August delivery was unchanged from Thursday’s settle of 55 cents a barrel over WTI.

* U.S. WTI crude settled up 1 cent at $60.21 a barrel as disruptions to U.S. Gulf of Mexico crude supply caused by a tropical storm were offset by concerns over a global crude surplus in the months ahead.

(Reporting by Nia Williams in Calgary Editing by Matthew Lewis)