SINGAPORE, July 23 (Reuters) - Spot premiums for Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban jumped on Thursday, extending a rally to touch their highest levels in at least eight weeks, on fears of supply disruptions.

Yemen's Houthi militia attacked two Saudi Arabian oil tankers in a military operation, the group said on Thursday, and a Saudi news agency later confirmed one of the two vessels was ablaze after an assault while sailing in the Red Sea.

Asian buyers are turning to alternative supplies from Russia and the U.S., traders said.

Still, two Chinese supertankers carrying a combined 4 million barrels of Saudi Arabian oil were exiting the Red Sea via the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Thursday, shipping data showed.

Two VLCCs emerged from the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, LSEG data showed. The New Giant, carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude, was headed for the eastern Chinese port of Rizhao, while the Rotterdam Energy, loaded with 2 million barrels of Upper Zakum crude from the United Arab Emirates, appeared off Fujairah, according to LSEG and Kpler data.

Three commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, down from four a day earlier and 18 the previous Wednesday, according to Kpler.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai's premium to swaps rose $6.87 to $12.74 a barrel.

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

PRICES ($/BBL)

NEWS

The operator of Vietnam's largest oil refinery, Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC, has secured sufficient crude oil for its operations through to the end of September, state energy firm Petrovietnam said on Thursday.

Goldman Sachs maintained on Thursday its Brent crude LCOc1 forecast of $80/barrel for the fourth quarter of 2026, saying lower Middle East supply should support prices if tensions between the United States and Iran ease by year-end.

The conflict in the Middle East has deepened forecasts of a global oil deficit in 2026, according to a Reuters poll of analysts, but recovering Gulf flows, robust U.S. production and weaker demand from China are expected to tip the market into oversupply in 2027.

Oil product stocks in Asia's key trading hub Singapore eased to their lowest in six weeks, led by a slide in clean petroleum product inventories, data showed on Thursday.

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

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 Africa fields    AFR/NEW 
New projects       ENERGY/NEW      New Americas  fields AM/NEW
CRUDE OIL MARKET REPORTS      
Middle East             CRU/MAsia-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      
                            
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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