SINGAPORE, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The Middle East crude market remained firm, with April differentials holding value as traders eyed alternatives to Iranian grades. Abu Dhabi benchmark Murban was pegged at a slight premium of around 3 cents a barrel to the ADNOC official selling price. Oman crude was pegged at premiums of around $3 to Dubai, with interest coming from refiners in India and North Asia, traders said. Oman is typically considered to be one of the better alternatives to Iranian crude grades. Iran has struggled to find buyers for its crude due to fresh sanctions from the West. Regional buyers have already started cutting back on imports from Tehran, which has refused to budge on its prices during contract negotiations despite the new sanctions. *OMAN ASSESSMENTS - April Oman traded on the DME was at a premium of $2.72 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. * EFS - Front-month Brent/Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS) for April fell 40 cents from the previous session to $3.95 a barrel. * MARKET NEWS - The United States and Israel are coordinated on steps being taken to combat Iran's perceived nuclear threat and the two allies have been planning to ensure "all other options" are available, the U.S. ambassador to Israel said on Thursday. - A tanker carrying 600,000 barrels of disputed Sudanese crude oil arrived in a Japanese port after a delay of more than a week because of uncertainty over the ownership of the cargo, port and industry sources said on Friday. - The launch of Russia's new Ust-Luga Baltic oil terminal, undergoing repairs after damage caused by multiple landslides, is again postponed to an unspecified time, trading sources told Reuters on Friday. *REFINERY MARGINS - Complex processing margins for Dubai crude in Singapore were around $6.39 per barrel, down from an average of the last five days of $7.56, according to Reuters data. Over the last year, the average margin has been around $8.20 per barrel. * CRACK SPREADS - Fuel oil's March crack lost 87 cents to a discount of $6.46 a barrel to Dubai crude. - Gas oil's March crack fell 85 cents to a premium of $15.30 a barrel to Dubai crude. - The naphtha CFR Japan front-month crack eased 40 cents to a discount of $8.03 a barrel to Brent. *OUTRIGHT PRICES - April ICE Brent was at $123.95 a barrel at 0830 GMT, up $1.01 from the same time a day earlier. - April Oman rose $1.42 to $122.72. (Reporting by Luke Pachymuthu; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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