CANADA CRUDE-Heavy dips on reports of brief Whiting coker shutdown

* Dec WCS trades at $17.00/bbl below WTI

* Dec synthetic trades at $6.50/bbl below WTI

By Nia Williams

CALGARY, Alberta, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Canadian heavy crude prices slipped on Wednesday on reports BP Plc briefly shut down the coker at its 413,500 barrel per day Whiting, Indiana, refinery.

The 102,000 bpd coker shut down overnight and was restarted on Wednesday, according to sources familiar with operations at the refinery. A BP spokesman declined to comment.

Whiting can take up to 350,000 bpd of Canadian heavy crude after a $4-billion refinery revamp completed last November.

Western Canada Select heavy blend for December delivery fell as low as $17.65 per barrel below West Texas Intermediate benchmark crude in early morning trade, according to Shorcan Energy brokers, before paring losses to last trade at $17.00 per barrel below WTI.

That compares with a settlement price on Tuesday of $16.90 per barrel below the benchmark.

Light (Other OTC: LGSXY - news) synthetic crude from the oil sands for December delivery also weakened to trade $6.50 per barrel below WTI, compared with a settlement price on Tuesday of $5.90 per barrel below benchmark.

Synthetic crude prices have slipped in recent weeks on strong supply. Traders are also waiting for news on when Enbridge Inc (Toronto: ENB.TO - news) 's newly reversed Line 9 will start up.

Enbridge said last month work on Line 9, which will carry 300,000 barrels per day of crude from Sarnia, Ontario, to Montreal, would be delayed after Canada's National Energy Board requested data on valve placement.

During an earnings call on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Al Monaco said Enbridge is still unable to estimate when Line 9 will be in service, after submitting a comprehensive report to regulators two weeks ago. (Editing by James Dalgleish)