The premiums for Middle East crude sold to Asia fell against their official prices, which were raised by government-run companies. Murban, produced by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., slipped 2 cents to a premium of 8 cents a barrel over its official selling price, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Lower Zakum, also produced in the emirate, slumped 4 cents a discount of 8 cents below its official level. Abu Dhabi National increased the official prices for November-loading Murban by 5 percent to $114.35 a barrel, according to an e-mail sent to buyers today. That price puts the grade at a premium of $5.35 a barrel to benchmark Dubai crude for the same period, the highest level since July 2008. Saudi Arabian Oil Co. yesterday increased the premiums for its crude sold to Asia to records for its light, medium and heavy grades. Arab Light climbed to $4.15 a barrel over the average of Oman and Dubai for January, the company said in a notice to buyers. Oman crude dropped 0.7 percent to $109.28 a barrel, Bloomberg data showed. Dubai was down 1 percent at $108.08. Murban crude declined $1.08 to $112.75 a barrel. Oman futures for February delivery fell $2.29 to $108.81 a barrel on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange at 5:27 p.m. Singapore time with 1,627 contracts traded. The settlement price was $109.36 at 12:30 p.m. in Dubai. The January Brent-Dubai exchange for swaps, which measures the European benchmark contract against the Persian Gulf grade, widened 5 cents to $3 a barrel, according to data from PVM. The exchange for swaps for February gained 18 cents to $3.35. 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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