Middle East crude oils for sale to Asia rose against their benchmarks as higher-than-average processing profits drove demand from refiners. Murban for July loading, produced in Abu Dhabi, climbed 10 cents to a premium of 73 cents a barrel to its official selling price, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Lower Zakum, also produced in the emirate, advanced to the same level. Qatar Marine gained 5 cents to a premium of 28 cents a barrel. Middle East crudes have been supported by a surge in refining profits for middle distillates including gasoil and kerosene. The profit from processing Qatar Marine in a plant capable of upgrading fuel oil into gasoline and diesel was at $2.74 a barrel today, according to netback calculations by Bloomberg and EnSys Energy. That’s up from the six-month average of $1.72. It reached $5.50 on May 6. Oman oil for immediate loading rose $1.81, or 1.7 percent, to $107.89 a barrel, according to Bloomberg data. Dubai for loading in July increased 1.7 percent to $107.29 and Murban crude climbed 1.7 percent to $112.71 a barrel. The Brent-Dubai exchange for swaps for June widened 2 cents to $6.57 a barrel, PVM data showed. The exchange for swaps for July fell 1 cent to $6.32 a barrel. Oman futures for July delivery rose 83 cents to $108.36 a barrel on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange at 5:44 p.m. Singapore time, with 1,147 contracts traded. The settlement price was at $108.73 at 12:30 p.m. in Dubai. To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Schmollinger in Singapore at christian.s@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jane, Ching Shen Lee at jalee@bloomberg.net.

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