SINGAPORE, May 16 (Reuters) - Values of Qatari condensate strengthened in the Middle East crude market on Monday as a perception of tighter supplies for July prompted buyers to match increases in premiums recently posted by heavier grades. Qatar International Petroleum Marketing Co, or Tasweeq, was heard to be discussing values for a tender of deodorised field condensate (DFC) for loading in July at premiums of $2.70-$3.10 a barrel to Dubai quotes, up from a more compact range of $2.70-$2.80 a barrel for June lots. Tasweeq was closing the tender on Monday, while bids would remain valid until May 19. It was not yet clear who would be the winner, but a trader said some buyers were ready to pay premiums of slightly over $3. [ID:nLDE743255] Expectations for reduced Qatari condensate supplies in July because of a field outage signalled term buyers would try to maximise scheduled monthly purchases, leaving fewer cargoes for sale on the spot market, another trader said. Valuations for other grades including Oman and Qatari al-Shaheen were little changed from Friday at premiums of about $1.50 a barrel to Dubai quotes, traders said, although trading was slow ahead of Tuesday's holiday in Singapore. * EAST-WEST - The front-month Brent/Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS), an indicator for the premium of light sweet grades over heavy sour supplies, fell 29 cents to $6.30 a barrel, after reaching $7.86 last month, the widest in more than five years, Reuters data showed. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Graphic of the EFS and the Dubai forward curve: here ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> * DME OMAN - July Oman traded on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) rose 15 cents to a premium of $1.62 a barrel to Dubai swap quotes at 0830 GMT, using the settlement price for DME futures, the ICE one-minute marker for Singapore and the Brent-Dubai EFS as calculated by Reuters. * MARKET NEWS - China's monetary tightening should pave the way for sustained commodity demand, while global economic growth this year is expected to boost consumption of resources, a senior official of Swiss-based trading firm Trafigura said on Monday. [ID:nL4E7GG11D] - Idemitsu Kosan Co (5019.T: Quote), Japan's third-largest refiner, said on Monday it planned to refine 15 percent less crude oil in the April-June quarter compared with a year earlier, after the earthquake in March hurt demand for oil products. [ID:nL4E7GG0O2] - The decades-long battle between the two top energy futures exchanges has opened up on a new front this year: oil options. [ID:nN15125114] - Iraq's gas field auction set for January must be delayed until a new energy law is passed and companies signing new contracts with Iraq do so "at their peril", parliament's energy committee chief said on Monday. [ID:nLDE74F0FI] - The crown prince of Abu Dhabi has hired the founder of private security firm Blackwater Worldwide to set up an 800-member battalion of foreign troops for the United Arab Emirates, the New York Times said on Sunday. [ID:nLDE74E0OS] * CRACK SPREADS - Fuel oil's June crack narrowed by 69 cents to a discount of $8.32, while July's crack was 63 cents narrower at a discount of $8.47 a barrel to Dubai crude. - Gas oil's June and July cracks' both inched up 46 cents to premiums of $17.88 and $18.41 a barrel to Dubai crude, respectively. - Naphtha's June crack narrowed by $1.61 to a discount of $4.61 a barrel to Brent crude on a technical correction, while July's crack discount was $1.46 tighter at $4.47. * OUTRIGHT PRICES - June ICE Brent LCOc1 was at $112.41 a barrel at 0830 GMT, down $1.79 from Friday. [O/R] (Reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa, editing by Jane Biard)

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