CHENNAI, India, May 16 (Reuters) - The Middle East crude market steadied on Thursday as Qatar's al-Shaheen crude changed hands at levels similar to a month ago, suggesting that a gradual widening of margins may support spot differentials for July cargoes. Traders remain bearish on the outlook, pointing out that refining margins continue to stay weak. Complex refining margins, which have risen above $6 per barrel this week, are still way below levels of $11 to $12 per barrel earlier this year. "With refiners contemplating cutting runs some more, it doesn't bode well for the spot market," said a trader at a southeast Asian refiner. "Although refining margins seem to have bottomed." * TRADES: - Maersk sold its July al-Shaheen crude at $1.40-$1.50 per barrel, the same as last month, sources said. The buyer was a Japanese firm, most likely TonenGeneral, they added. - July Murban may have been traded at a slightly higher premium than last month, sources said, but the deal could not be confirmed. The crude likely changed hands at about 30 cents per barrel below its official selling price, compared with a 41-42 cent discount last month, they added. * MARKET NEWS - Sinopec Shanghai Gaoqiao Co, a subsidiary of top Asian refiner Sinopec Corp, has shut down a secondary unit that produces gasoline due to a fire extinguished in about 15 minutes, a company spokesman said.ID:nL3N0DX11J - Venezuela's oil and fuel shipments to China rose 18 percent in the first four months of 2013 to 626,000 bpd, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said.ID:nL2N0DW3TT - Tehran is ready to continue nuclear diplomacy with world powers before or after the June presidential election in Iran, its chief negotiator said.ID:nL6N0DX1OO CRUDE ($/bbl) Price Prev Change JUL DME Oman diff to Dubai swap 0.93 1.07 -0.14 JUN BrentBRENTSGMc1 103.08 102.15 +0.93 JUL DubaiDUBSGSWMc2 99.27 98.37 +0.90 JUL DME Oman 100.20 99.44 +0.76 JUN Brent/Dubai EFSDUB-EFS-1M 3.38 3.36 +0.02 PRODUCT CRACKS JUN fuel oil crackFO180SGCKMc1 -6.57 -6.87 +0.30 JUN gasoil crackGOSGCKMc1 15.93 16.32 -0.39 JUL naphtha crackNAFOBSGCKMc1 -9.55 -9.32 -0.23 COMPLEX REFINERY MARGINSREF/MARGIN1 Today 5.60 Last 5 days 5.94 Last 365 days 7.43 (Reporting by Ramya Venugopal; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) ((ramya.venugopal@thomsonreuters.com)(+91 80562 88685)(Reuters Messaging: ramya.venugopal@thomsonreuters.com.reuters.net))
((RECENT CRUDE OIL TRADES Asia...ACRU/T Europe...CRU/T Americas...CRU/TU CRUDE OIL MARKET NEWS Crude oil tenders in Asia...................CRU/TENDA Crude oil supply outages in Asia............CRU/OUT-ASIA-O Refinery outages in Asia....................REF/OUT-ASIA-O Global arbitrage news and flows.................O/CRUDEARB W.African crude imports to Asia, monthly........O/WAFRICA1 REFINERY MAINTENANCE DIARIES Asia...REF/A Middle East...REF/ME Europe...REF/E NATIONAL CRUDE IMPORT DATA Japan..............METI/JP1 China..............O/CHINA1 India..............O/INDIA2 S.Korea............O/KOREA1 Indonesia.......O/INDO1-CRU CRUDE OIL INVENTORY DATA Japan...O/JAPAN1 US...EIA/S Europe...O/EUROIL1 CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION/OILFIELD NEWS OPEC output survey...OPEC/O New Asian fields...ASIA/NEW New Africa fields...AFR/NEW New Americas fields..AM/NEW New projects.....ENERGY/NEW CRUDE OIL MARKET REPORTS Middle East...........CRU/M Asia-Pacific........CRU/AP West Africa.........CRU/WAF North Sea............CRU/E Asia outlook.......ASIA/CRU Europe outlook.....EUR/CRU Global futures report...O/R Technicals report......O/I PRICES For all Official Selling Prices......................OSP/O For a POLL on oil prices............................O/POLL NYMEX and ICE oil futures...........................OILOIL TOCOM crude oil futures.............................0#JCO: Dubai, Oman swaps and spread...............ASIA/SWAP/CRUDE Middle East physical crude diffs...............CRUDE/ASIA2 Australia physical crude, Tapis swaps..........CRUDE/ASIA1 Asia-Pacific physical crude....................CRUDE/ASIA3 All Asian crude oil differentials................0#C-DIF-A All Asian crude oil outright prices..................0#C-A )) Keywords: MARKETS MIDEAST CRUDE/
