Values in the Middle East crude market strengthened on Wednesday as Oman crude futures rebounded above $3 a barrel, snapping three sessions of losses. 
  
Trading of physical cargoes for January delivery is expected to start later this week once Iran, Kuwait and Iraq release their official selling prices, traders said. 
   
The firmer Oman values could help lift differentials for January Al-Shaheen crude above last month's record premium of around $2.50 a barrel, a trader said. 
   
Espo crude continued to transact at steady levels, with Tenergy selling at least one cargo a premium of around $6 a barrel for December delivery, said another trader. Major Russian oil and gas company, Surgutneftegas, had sold two cargoes of ESPO earlier this week at premiums of $5.80 to $6.00, similar to deals done last month.    
     
Saudi Aramco has offered an extra 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil to Indian refiner Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) for 2012, sources close to the talks said, nearly doubling supply just a month before an Opec meeting that is expected to try to keep output quotas flat.  
  
MRPL currently buys 22,000 bpd oil from Aramco under an annual deal, and the refiner is diversifying its crude slate to feed a 25 percent expansion of its capacity to 300,000 bpd next year. - Reuters