I find it hard to fathom White's aims here.

I agree, I was quite happy at this stage

I would say white is trying to make black's dsb developement a little delicate to handle. I'm not able to say if this is too "naive"...

White's bishop in b2 kind of "forces black to move the e pawn twice in the opening". But the price is the inactivity of white's dsb. White can't stop e5, and it is good for black. White misses f4, to ensure control of the black squares.

I think I might have played 7...e5 anyway, which would have kept White's d-pawn under restraint, and rather left White's b2-Bishop looking a little bit sorry for itself. If Ng5 was a concern, ...h6 could have waited a move at any rate.

Yes, that is exactly what I should have done!

It seems safe for black to take the pawn: cxd, Nxd4, e5. White's knight must go back, cramping white's perspectives. Black' can't allow dxc5, since after dxc5 white will be really powerful on the black diagonal. Black's key move is e5.

But that is often the way with an Open Sicilian: White's early development is the faster, as a rule. Black's countervailing advantages lie in having the more flexible yet solid position, and the centre majority. After 8...cxd4 9.Nxd4 e5, Black's game looks pretty reasonable to me.

This move allows dxc, making e5 more difficult to achieve, and a weakness. Moreover, allows white's following due to the threat on the knight. This, again, delays e5 (but IMO not as effectively like dxc5).

As white, I want to open the black diagonal. The only way to achieve this is 10. e5. Of course, you have to calculate Nxd5, but after 11. e5xd6, Qxd6 (if Bxd6, 12. Bxg7), 12. Ne5. Be5 is tempting, but this opens the way to Bh5... white "has" to go on. True is that now, with the knight in d8, e5 is less tempting.

...and white has no game. Black is ready to go f5, with advantage, but, of course, I overlooked...