Middle East Crude-Benchmarks premiums rise; post flat weekly movement

SINGAPORE, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Spot premiums for Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban gained on Friday, supported by higher bids in the market although trade activity remained light during China's holiday season.

On a weekly basis, premiums little moved, with some pressure from data suggesting recovering oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil prices fell about 3% and European gasoil futures dropped over 5% on Friday after reports of talks on additional diesel and crude stock releases, easing concerns over tight global energy supplies. O/R

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai's premium to swaps rose $1.14 to $14.16 a barrel.

PRICES ($/BBL)

NEWS

China's suspension this month of exports of oil products to regions beyond Hong Kong and Macau could tighten supplies to some of its biggest buyers including Singapore, Malaysia and Australia.

Commodities trader Gunvor said on Friday that it would rebrand as Centalion and shift its corporate headquarters to Singapore.

Asia's gasoline margin rose to a record high on Thursday as various outages at regional refineries and reports that Chinese refiners have halted fuel exports for October tightened the supply outlook, traders said.

European Union countries discussed a French proposal on Friday to release diesel stocks in response to US pressure to help cool surging fuel prices, two sources familiar with details of the discussion told Reuters.

Venezuela's oil exports declined almost 9% to 1.08 million barrels per day in September from the previous month as traders pressed state-run PDVSA for price discounts to offset rising freight costs, shipping data showed on Thursday.

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