The Middle East crude benchmarks Dubai and Oman started July stronger than the previous month after Shell and Gunvor sold four partials to Chinaoil during Monday's window. WINDOW: Cash Dubai's discount to swaps was at 41 cents a barrel following the four trades. Platts has lifted restrictions on crude oil loading from Qatari ports in its Middle East crude price assessments, a company spokeswoman said. Effective Monday, Al-Shaheen crude loading from Qatar may be nominated by a seller to a buyer when the deal is struck in its pricing process known as market-on-close (MOC). Seller-Buyer Price Chinaoil-Shell 47.70 Chinaoil-Shell 47.70 Chinaoil-Shell 47.70 Chinaoil-Gunvor 47.70 PRICES ($/BBL) CURRENT PREV SESSION DME OMAN 47.80 46.46 DME OMAN DIFF TO DUBAI -0.31 -0.56 CASH DUBAI 47.70 46.50 Dubai crude, as quoted by price-reporting agency Platts, averaged $46.472 a barrel for June, the lowest since November, traders said on Monday. OSP PREVIEW: Saudi Arabia could raise prices for the heavy crude it sells to Asia in August to the highest in more than three years, trade sources said. Saudi Aramco may lift the official selling price (OSP) for Arab Heavy crude to Asia by 20 cents a barrel to $1.65 below the average of Oman and Dubai quotes in August, its narrowest discount since December 2013, according to four Asian crude buyers. The four sources who expected a climb in Saudi heavy crude prices predicted that flagship Arab Light's OSP would fall to a two-month low for August, down 20 cents a barrel after the Dubai market weakened last month. UAE's ADNOC and Qatar Petroleum are expected to cut the OSP differentials to Dubai for all grades in June after spot cargoes were sold at discounts. Still, the last Murban deal at a premium may provide some support for the Abu Dhabi flagship crude's price. TENDERS: Formosa on Monday closed a tender to buy up to three cargoes of Banoco Arab Medium crude for October-December loading. The result was not immediately known. ARBITRAGE China's West African crude oil loadings are set to slide for a second month in July to a 10-month low as the key consumer nation pauses to digest its prolific purchases over the first half of the year. NEWS OPEC oil output has risen in June by 280,000 barrels per day (bpd) to a 2017 high, a Reuters survey found, as a further recovery in supply from the two member countries exempt from a production-cutting deal offset strong compliance by their peers. Iraq's daily oil exports averaged 3.273 million barrels per oil in June, up slightly from 3.262 million bpd the previous month, the oil ministry said in a statement on Saturday. Russian oil output stood at 10.95 million barrels per day (bpd) in June, unchanged from the previous month, Energy Ministry data showed on Sunday, pointing to the country's full compliance with a global pact to curb crude production. U.S. oil traders are hoping the sweltering days of July are also hot ones for demand, believing the new month is the last best opportunity this year to see the overhang of inventories finally subside. South Korea's crude oil imports rose 1.0 percent in June from a year earlier to 84.8 million barrels, preliminary data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed on Saturday. Analysts have cut their forecasts for oil prices this year and next as the prospect of a continued large rise in U.S. production will likely slow OPEC's efforts to cut its output to help supply match demand, according to a Reuters poll. For crude prices, oil product cracks and refining margins, please click on the RICs below. Brent Dubai DME Oman Brent/Dubai EFS PRODUCT CRACKS Fuel oil crack Gasoil crack Naphtha crack Complex refining margins