SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai were little changed while Murban hit a new high on Tuesday as escalation in Russia-Ukraine tensions drove Brent up to near $100 a barrel.

IFAD Murban's premium was up 20 cents to $6.79 a barrel, the highest ever.

Arbitrage windows remained tightly closed as Brent's premium to Dubai swaps surged to $7.61 a barrel, the highest since 2011, in line with widening Brent backwardation. 

Physical trade was muted as most of the April loading cargoes moved last week.

For tenders, Pertamina has sold a March-loading Basra Medium crude cargo probably to Sahara Energy at 10 cents above its official selling price, traders said, although this could not be independently verified.

In regional market, spot premiums for April-loading Malaysian grades jumped nearly $1 from the previous month despite a rebound in Kimanis crude supplies. ConocoPhillips sold its Kimanis crude cargo to Hengyi Petrochemical at $7.80 a barrel above dated Brent while Petronas has sold a late April loading Labuan crude cargo to Vitol at a premium of around $8 a barrel.

REFINERY

A fire at Marathon Petroleum Corp's 578,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) crude oil refinery in Garyville, Louisiana, was extinguished on Monday afternoon, a company spokesperson said. 

Union workers locked out of their jobs at a Texas oil refinery for nearly 10 months voted on Monday to accept an Exxon Mobil Corp contract offer, ceding to a key company demand that it have the right to determine plant assignments.

NEWS

Oil hit its highest since 2014 on Tuesday as tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated after Moscow ordered troops into two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, adding to supply concerns that are pushing prices to near $100 a barrel. 

OPEC+ compliance with oil output cuts rose to 129% in January, a source from the group told Reuters, as producers fell further behind their target and signalling a tight market that could push prices higher. 

Libya's state-owned National Oil Corp (NOC) announced on Monday the opening of a new oilfield named Tahara and said it should eventually produce 14,000 barrels of oil and 6 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. 

Argentina's crude oil production climbed to its highest monthly level in over a decade in January, including record output from the country's prolific shale fields, the energy ministry said on Monday. 

India's fuel demand is likely to grow 5.5% in the next fiscal year beginning April 1, initial government estimates show, reflecting a pick-up in industrial activity and mobility in Asia's third largest economy after months of stagnation. 

(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri) ((Florence.Tan@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: florence.tan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))