SINGAPORE, June 15 (Reuters) - Traders in the Middle East crude market were eyeing opportunities to send cargoes of the lightest grades in the region to Europe, as the blowout of Brent's premium relative to Dubai rendered shipments more attractive. The likelihood of increasing shipments of grades such as Abu Dhabi's Murban to Europe halted the plunge in prices since Saudi Arabia offered more crude to Asian buyers last week, some traders said. Discussion for Qatari heavy sour al-Shaheen crude hovered at premiums of 50-60 cents a barrel to Dubai quotes, down slightly from Tuesday but not as low as some traders had expected. Traders awaited results from Tasweeq's tender to sell six cargoes for loading in August. Oman crude stabilised at a premium of about 60 cents to Dubai quotes, roughly in line with al-Shaheen, traders said. * EAST WEST - Brent's premium to Dubai rose to its highest level since 2004 for a second straight day, as an imbalance between undersupplied light sweet grades and abundant heavy sour grows with increasing output from Saudi Arabia. The Brent/Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS) for July was up 12 cents to $8.12 a barrel at 0830 GMT, Reuters data showed, after peaking at $9.20 earlier on Tuesday. Liquidity in the July contract was ebbing ahead of the expiry of the Brent July contract at the end of Wednesday trade. The more liquid August EFS was at $6.90 a barrel, down 30 cents from Tuesday. The Brent/Dubai spread reached a record near $12 in October 2004, when a glut of heavy sour crude depressed the relative value of exports from producers such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Venezuela and non-OPEC Russia and Mexico. For a graphic of the EFS and the Dubai forward curve: here * DME OMAN - August Oman traded on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) fell 16 cents to a premium of 45 cents 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 - In the weeks leading up to the failed June OPEC meeting, U.S. and Saudi officials met to discuss surprising the market with an unprecedented arrangement: exchanging urgently needed high-quality crude oil stored in the U.S. emergency reserve for heavier, low-quality oil from Saudi Arabia, according to people familiar with the plan. [ID:nN14209654] - The idea involved shipping some of the light low-sulphur, or "sweet", crude out of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to European refiners, who needed it after the war in Libya cut off shipments of its premium crude varieties coveted for making gasoline and diesel. - In return Saudi Arabia would sell its heavier high-sulphur or "sour" crude at a discount back to the United States to top up the caverns that hold America's emergency stocks. - Japan's commercial crude inventories last week fell 4 percent from a 31-moth high, while crude throughput climbed from a record low, industry data showed on Wednesday, reflecting the restart of some refineries after maintenance and following a massive earthquake in March. [ID:nL3E7HF0FS] - Japan's crude throughput rose 11 percent in the week to June 11 from 2.64 million barrels per day the week before, which was the lowest since the weekly data was first issued in January 2003, the Petroleum Association of Japan said. - Iran said on Wednesday there was no market demand for Saudi Arabia's output increase nor any need for an extraordinary OPEC meeting as the market was "balanced." [ID:nMOS530901] - Russia's oil export duty on crude deliveries will fall to $445.10 per tonne from July 1, down from $462.10 in June after a decline in crude prices, Finance Ministry and Reuters calculations showed on Wednesday. [ID:nLDE75E0LW] * CRACK SPREADS - Gas oil's July crack rose 19 cents to a premium of $20.92 a barrel to Dubai crude, underpinned by firm fundamentals in the region. The August crack was up 11 cents also to $20.92. - Fuel oil's July crack fell 25 cents to a discount of $8.35 a tonne to Dubai crude, while the August crack was down 28 cents at a discount of $9.08 a barrel. * OUTRIGHT PRICES - July ICE Brent LCOc1 was at $119.60 a barrel at 0830 GMT, up 45 cents from Tuesday. [O/R] (Reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa; editing by Jason Neely)Q

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