SINGAPORE, July 9 (Reuters) - Middle East crude benchmark Dubai discount narrowed on Thursday, amid some fears of supply risks from the Middle East following the latest strikes.

Iranian armed forces targeted U.S. military infrastructure in neighbouring Gulf states on Thursday following U.S. strikes on Iran's southern coastal and eastern provinces, putting further strain on a three-week-old ceasefire agreement.

Oman and Murban discounts widened slightly.

TENDER

India's Bharat Petroleum Corp BPCL.NS and Japan's Taiyo Oil bought crude from the United States this week, according to trading sources, as the refiners seek to diversify supplies amid the Middle East conflict.

BPCL bought West Texas Intermediate crude from trading house Vitol, four sources said.

Two of them said the refiner has booked an Aframax tanker, which is capable of carrying up to 600,000 barrels of crude, for the purchase. The oil was bought at a premium around $6 per barrel to dated Brent, they added.

Taiyo Oil bought 2 million barrels of U.S. crude for delivery in early October and the cargo was purchased at a premium of around $6 per barrel above ICE Brent, a separate trader said.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai's premium to swaps rose $1.34 to minus $2.23 a barrel.

Mercuria will deliver a September-loading Oman crude cargo to Trafigura following the deals.

SELLER-BUYER	PRICE ($/BBL)
MERCURIA-MITSUI	70.30
SHENGHONG-TRAFIGURA	70.29
MERCURIA-MITSUI	70.30
MERCURIA-PETROCHINA	70.30
MERCURIA-PETROCHINA	70.35
VITOL-MITSUI	70.40
MERCURIA-TRAFIGURA	70.40
VITOL-MITSUI	70.40
MERCURIA-BP	70.41
VITOL-TRAFIGURA	70.45
MERCURIA-BP	70.46
VITOL-TRAFIGURA	70.45
MERCURIA-MITSUI	70.47
VITOL-MITSUI	70.45
VITOL-TRAFIGURA	70.45
MERCURIA-PHILLIPS 66	70.47
MERCURIA-BP	70.47
VITOL-MITSUI	70.47
MERCURIA-BP	70.47

PRICES ($/BBL)

	CURRENT	PREV SESSION
GME OMAN	70.21	71.36
GME OMAN DIFF TO DUBAI	-2.47	-2.41
CASH DUBAI	70.47	70.20

NEWS

Russia introduced a ban on diesel exports on Wednesday as part of a raft of measures to support the domestic fuel market after systematic Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries triggered gasoline shortages and price spikes.

Austrian oil and gas group OMV OMVV.VI said on Thursday it expects higher energy prices to offset the impact on sales volumes from the Middle East conflict.

U.S. crude inventories rose for the first time since mid-April last week as exports softened, while gasoline and distillate inventories fell ahead of the Independence Day weekend, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

For crude prices, oil product cracks and refining margins, please click on the RICs below.

Brent	BRENTSGMc1
Dubai	DUBSGSWMc2
GME Oman	OQc1
Brent/Dubai EFS	DUB-EFS-1M
PRODUCT CRACKS
Fuel oil crack	FO180SGCKMc1
Gasoil crack	GO10SGCKMc1
Naphtha crack	NAF-SIN-CRK
Gasoline crack	GL92-SIN-CRK
Complex refining margins	REF/MARGIN1