Middle East crude oil for sale to Asia rose this week on signs demand for crude is increasing. Qatar Marine was at a premium of 11 cents a barrel today over its official selling price, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with a spread of 6 cents at the end of last week. Murban from Abu Dhabi’s National Oil Co was at a premium of 13 cents a barrel Oman crude for immediate loading fell $1.08, or 1 percent, to $109.85 a barrel, Bloomberg data showed. Dubai oil for loading in November dropped 1 percent to $109.47. Murban declined 0.9 percent to $113.63. Dubai for November was at a premium of $1.09 a barrel for supplies loading in January, a market structure known as backwardation that suggests demand for oil is higher for prompt cargoes. Oman futures for November delivery fell 61 cents to $109.84 a barrel on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange at 5:26 p.m. Singapore time, with 1,381 contracts traded. The settlement price was $110.01 at 12:30 p.m. in Dubai. The October Brent-Dubai exchange for swaps, which measures the European marker contract against the Persian Gulf grade, narrowed by 23 cents to $5.62 a barrel, according to data from PVM Oil Associates, a broker. The exchange for swaps for November fell 1 cent to $4.77. To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Schmollinger in Singapore at christian.s@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net

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