SINGAPORE, May 8 (Reuters) - DME Oman's premium to Dubai edged up to touch the highest in a week in the Middle East crude market on Thursday on expectations of higher demand as seasonal refinery maintenance comes to an end in Asia. Most Asian refiners are expected to increase crude throughput to meet peak demand in summer, raising demand for July-loading crude which trades this week. Some grades such as Murban, Banoco Arab Medium and Qatar Marine may start trading in premiums after producers reduced official selling prices (OSPs). Qatar has set its April retroactive official selling price (OSP) for its Marine crude at $105.20 a barrel, up $0.20 a barrel from the previous month, Qatar News Agency said. The latest OSPs put Qatar Marine's premium to Dubai quotes at $0.52 a barrel, down $0.17 from a month earlier, and Qatar Land's premium to Dubai at $2.17, down 77 cents. Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) has also cut the June OSP for Basra Light by 35 cents to 95 cents a barrel below Oman-Dubai quotes, although it's 5 cents shy of the 40-cent cut for competing grade Arab Medium from Saudi Arabia. Refiners remained cautious about raising crude runs as margins were slow to rise even though the region has undergone a heavy maintenance season and permanent shutdowns at some refineries in Japan. Concerns about a slowdown in China's economic growth that dampened fuel demand at the world's second largest oil consumer in the first quarter remained, although the outlook improved in April. China's crude imports rose more than a fifth in April from a year earlier to a record high of 6.78 million barrels per day (bpd), data showed on Thursday. Higher seasonal demand and indications of stockpiling had boosted crude imports. Saudi Arabia produced 9.66 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in April, up from 9.566 million bpd in March, an industry source familiar with the matter said. *DME OMAN DME Oman for July settled at $104.34, up 47 cents, at 0830 GMT. This put DME Oman at $1.49 a barrel above Dubai swaps, against a premium of $1.30 in the previous session. *MARKET NEWS The supply of North Sea crude that underpins the Brent benchmark will average 880,000 barrels per day (bpd) in June, according to loading schedules provided by trade sources on Wednesday, up from May's schedule. Rebels occupying major oil ports in eastern Libya said on Wednesday they would boycott Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteeq and keep two major export terminals shut for now, a blow to efforts to restore vital oil exports. Assailants blew up Yemen's main oil export pipeline, halting crude flows, local officials said on Wednesday, while other gunmen attacked electricity lines, causing a power outage in most of the country's northern cities. For crude prices, oil product cracks and refining margins, please click on the RICs below.

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