CANADA-CRUDE-Discount on Western Canada Select widens

July 11 (Reuters) - The discount on Western Canada Select to the North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 widened on Friday.

WCS for August delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $10.20 a barrel under the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared with $10 a barrel on Thursday.

• The differential between Canadian heavy crude and the U.S. benchmark has been wider in July than it was last month, when concerns about wildfires in Canada's oil-producing regions led to a temporary tightening.

• Still, pricing for Canadian crude remains historically strong, in part due to the opening of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which boosted the country's oil export capacity to Asian markets.

• Summer and the return of road construction season are a seasonally strong time of year for Canadian heavy crude, which is used by U.S. refiners to produce asphalt.

• Global oil prices rose over 2% on Friday as the International Energy Agency said the market was tighter than it appears, while U.S. tariffs and possible further sanctions on Russia were also in focus.