SINGAPORE, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The Middle East crude market rose on Tuesday, as al-Shaheen crude for January loading transacted at record premiums due to strong fuel oil cracks in Asia. Danish producer Maersk sold the first cargoes for the month at $3.00-$3.50 a barrel above Dubai quotes, ahead of the close of Tasweeq's tender to sell 3 million barrels of the heavy sour grade on Wednesday. "The premiums are too high, its not reflecting market fundamentals," said a trader. The firm premiums tracked those of Omani crude, where offers were seen above $3.50 for January cargoes, another trader said. *OSPs - Kuwait lowered the official selling price (OSP) for its crude oil sales to Asian buyers for December to 85 cents a barrel above the average of Oman/Dubai quotes, two trade sources said on Tuesday. That was within the range of expectations in a Reuters survey. The December OSP was 5 cents a barrel lower than the November OSP, which was set at a record high premium of 90 cents to the average of Oman/Dubai quotes. Kuwait's crude price formula is loosely linked to that of Saudi Arabia's Arab Medium grade, which was also cut for December. *TENDERS Qatar International Petroleum Marketing Co, or Tasweeq, has offered five 600,000-barrel cargoes of al-Shaheen crude for loading in January, a trader said on Tuesday. The tender closes on Nov. 16, with bids remaining valid until Nov. 18. Tasweeq last sold five 600,000-barrel cargoes via tender at premiums ranging between $2.00 and $2.60 a barrel to Dubai quotes for loading in December, a record high. *TRADES - Shell bought four Dubai partials, three from SK Energy and one from Unipec, at $111.30-$111.40 a barrel. *OMAN ASSESSMENTS - January Oman traded on the DME was valued at $3.05 to Dubai swap quotes by 0830 GMT, down from $3.58 in the previous session, using the settlement price for DME futures, the ICE one-minute marker for Singapore and the Brent-Dubai EFS as calculated by Reuters. *EFS - Brent crude's premium to the Middle East marker Dubai fell on Tuesday to its lowest level in nearly five months after the European price reference weakened on more supply and poor demand. Front-month Brent/Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS)DUB-EFS-1M for December fell $1.09 from Monday's close to $3.30 a barrel while the January value is down 71 cents to $3.65, Reuters data showed. *MARKET NEWS - Malaysia's Petronas discovered oil offshore Sabah in the latest "significant" find this year in the hydrocarbon-rich state on Borneo island, as the national oil company sets to boost reserves and output amid easing production costs. - Taiwan's September crude imports increased 83 percent from the month before, as refineries started coming back online following outages and maintenance work, government data showed on Monday. - Rates for oil tankers on key Asian freight routes are expected to rise this week on record high demand for spot supertankers carrying Middle East crude oil, ship brokers said on Tuesday. - The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will watch market developments closely and will be able to work well together as long as there is 'no outside influence', Iran's OPEC governor said on Tuesday.  *REFINERY MARGINS - Complex processing margins for Dubai in Singapore were around $8.07 per barrel, down from an average of $8.16 in the last five days, Reuters data show. Over the last year, the average margin has been around $8.23 per barrel. *CRACK SPREADS - Fuel oil's December crack widened 54 cents to a discount of $3.17 a barrel to Dubai crude. - Gas oil's December crack rose 27 cents to a premium of $20.07 a barrel to Dubai crude. - The naphtha CFR Japan front-month crack climbed 28 cents to a discount of $15.64 a barrel to Brent. *OUTRIGHT PRICES - December ICE Brent was at $113.14 a barrel at 0830 GMT, down $1.34 cents from Monday. - January Oman fell 80 cents to $111.67. (Reporting by Francis Kan and Florence Tan; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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