* July WCS last at $16/bbl under WTI
* July synthetic last at $1.50/bbl above WTI
CALGARY, Alberta, June 5 (Reuters) - Canadian cash crudeprices strengthened on Wednesday on reports that refinery demandmay rise as maintenance shutdowns are completed.
Western Canada Select heavy blend for July delivery lasttraded at $16.00 per barrel under the West Texas Intermediatebenchmark, according to Shorcan Energy Brokers. That compareswith the previous day's settlement price of $17.50 under thebenchmark.
Light synthetic crude from the oil sands for July lasttraded at a premium of C$1.50 per barrel to WTI, up from asettlement price on Tuesday of $0.60 per barrel above thebenchmark.
The heavy crude price rose on separate reports that twomajor refineries that process Canadian crude could return toservice after prolonged shutdowns.
Genscape, an oil market intelligence service, said onWednesday that Exxon Mobil Corp's 238,600 barrel per dayJoliet refinery was conducting preliminary restart activitiesafter a shutdown that began April 14 and said the facility waslikely to return to service before the end of the month.
Reuters sources said BP Plc is readying a major crudeprocessing unit at its 405,000 bpd Whiting, Illinois, refineryfor restart, although it's unlikely to be in production beforemonth's end. The crude distillation unit has been closed sinceNovember as the refinery readies an expansion that will boostits use of Canadian crude to 350,000 bpd from 80,000 bpd.