SINGAPORE, May 23 (Reuters) - The Middle East crude market weakened further on Wednesday, in line with a decline in futures, as ample supplies and reduced demand weighed on sentiment. July Oman slipped to 40 cents a barrel above Dubai quotes in the over-the-counter (OTC) market, down from a premium of just below $1 last week. No Oman trades were heard done on Wednesday. Buying interest in Asia is weak as refiners are reluctant to raise output because of a fall in profits from processing crude. Margins in Singapore from processing a barrel of Dubai crude fell to $6.01 from an average of $7.54 in the past 12 months. Markets are now awaiting results of Taiwan CPC's tender to buy crudes for July. The tender closed on Wednesday and bids are valid until Thursday. *TRADES - Mercuria bought two Dubai partials from Phibro at $103.70. *MARKET NEWS - The International Energy Agency is monitoring oil markets and is ready to take action to release strategic oil reserves if needed, IEA's Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said at an OECD event on Wednesday, reiterating the body's recent stance. - Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Wednesday that any efforts by Western powers to put pressure on Iran at talks in Baghdad over its nuclear programme would be futile. - China signalled on Wednesday it wanted to ramp up private investment in its energy sector, in line with recently unveiled government plans to fast-track infrastructure investment to help combat a protracted economic slowdown. - Japan's customs-cleared crude oil imports rose 12.9 percent from the same month a year earlier to 19.2 million kilolitres, or 4.0 million barrels-per-day, preliminary data from the Ministry of Finance showed on Wednesday. CRUDE Price Prev Change JULY DME Oman diff to Dubai swaps 0.42 0.70 -0.28 JULY Brent 107.01 108.42 -1.41 JULY Dubai 103.21 104.60 -1.39 JULY DME Oman 103.63 105.30 -1.67 JULY Brent/Dubai EFS 3.80 3.82 -0.02 PRODUCT CRACKS Price Prev Change JUNE fuel oil crack -3.15 -3.90 0.75 JUNE gasoil crack 15.61 15.69 -0.08 JULY naphtha crack -11.23 -10.89 -0.34 COMPLEX REFINERY MARGINS Today 6.01 Last 5 days 6.20 Last 365 days 7.54 (Reporting By Manash Goswami and Florence Tan, editing by William Hardy)

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