Discount on Western Canada Select Heavy Crude Tightens

* WCS for January delivery in Hardisty, Alberta settled at $12.25 a barrel under the WTI benchmark, according to brokerage CalRock, having settled at a discount of $12.40 a barrel under the U.S. benchmark the previous trading day.

* Global oil prices climbed more than 1% on Monday on higher geopolitical risk after the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and as top importer China flagged its first move towards a loosened monetary policy stance since 2010.

(Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)