Middle East crude oil grades for sale to Asia narrowed discounts to their benchmark prices as refinery profits remained higher than average after fires shut plants in China and Japan. Murban for September loading climbed 6 cents to a discount of 12 cents a barrel to its official selling price, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. Qatar Marine was unchanged at a discount of 20 cents a barrel, Bloomberg data showed. Support for these grades increased as PetroChina Co. shut a crude distillation unit at its Dalian plant after a fire on July 16 and JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp said today it would cut processing at its Mizushima-A refinery in western Japan following an accident yesterday. Reduced production at the two plants supported processing profits in the region. Gasoil’s premium to Dubai, a measure of profitability, was at $19.08 a barrel today, above the three- month average of $18.93, according to data from PVM Oil Associates Ltd., a London-based broker. Oman crude for immediate loading rose 23 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $111.18 a barrel, Bloomberg data showed. Dubai oil for delivery in September climbed 0.2 percent to $110.62. Murban increased 0.3 percent to $114.88. Oman futures for September delivery rose 44 cents to $111.04 a barrel on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange at 6:15 p.m. Singapore time, with 1,470 contracts traded. The settlement price was $110.87 at 12:30 p.m. in Dubai. The September Brent-Dubai exchange for swaps, which measures the European marker contract against the Persian Gulf grade, widened 13 cents to $5.55 a barrel, according to data from PVM Oil Associates. The exchange for swaps for October rose 7 cents to $5.13. 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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