SINGAPORE, July 4 (Reuters) - Sentiment in the Middle East crude market weakened as expectations of low demand from top buyer China overshadowed concerns about supply, with tensions in the Middle East rising, trader said on Wednesday. Top Chinese refineries will cut crude processing runs in July, following gains in the previous two months, as sluggish demand, poor refining margins and high fuel stocks hurt operations, a Reuters poll showed. The 12 plants, which make up nearly a third of the capacity in the world's No.2 oil consumer, are located mostly in coastal areas, and plan to process 2.88 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil this month, the poll showed. The daily rate, which accounts for about 84 percent of their refining capacity, is expected to be 2 percent, or roughly 60,000 bpd, lower than the actual 2.94 million bpd in June. Participants are assessing the direction of the market for September, with tensions over Iran's disputed nuclear programme providing support. Crude oil prices fell back on Wednesday as investors' focus reverted to the grim economic backdrop and as they took profits after the sharp gains in previous sessions. * TRADES - Trafigura sold two Dubai partials to Mercuria at $97.20, while Mercuria bought one partial from Chinaoil at the same price. * MARKET NEWS - Iran said on Tuesday it had successfully tested medium-range missiles capable of hitting Israel, the latest move in a war of nerves with the West. The Islamic Republic announced the "Great Prophet 7" missile exercise on Sunday after a European embargo against Iranian crude oil purchases took full effect. - Thailand's Bangchak Petroleum Pcl declared force majeure on crude imports after a fire on Wednesday forced its refinery in central Bangkok to shut down, adding more oil into an already well-supplied Asian market. - Japan's second-biggest oil refiner, TonenGeneral Sekiyu 5012.T, said on Wednesday it was delaying the restart of a crude distillation unit at its 335,000 barrels per day (bpd) Kawasaki refinery near Tokyo because of a problem. CRUDE Price Prev Change SEP DME Oman diff to Dubai swaps 0.98 0.81 0.17 AUG Brent 99.27 97.82 1.45 SEP Dubai 96.34 94.54 1.80 SEP DME Oman 97.32 95.35 1.97 AUG Brent/Dubai EFS 2.72 3.05 -0.33 PRODUCT CRACKS Price Prev Change AUG fuel oil crack -3.38 -3.37 -0.01 AUG gasoil crack 17.20 17.35 -0.15 AUG naphtha crack -10.71 -10.26 -0.45 COMPLEX REFINERY MARGINS Today 4.81 Last 5 days 5.77 Last 365 days 7.35 (Reporting by Manash Goswami and Ramya Venugopal; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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