March 5 (Bloomberg) -- Oman crude oil, a Persian Gulf benchmark for Asian refiners, gained on speculation traders are buying more futures contracts to hedge against potential shortages in the physical market.

Oman crude for May loading rose 2 cents to a premium of 13 cents over its official selling price, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Oman crude futures trading volumes have increased in the past two days to 804 lots yesterday from 694 on March 3 on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange.

``There have been some cargoes traded between trading houses for May,'' said Shohei Setoh, a trader at Japan Energy Corp. in Tokyo.

Oman crude oil futures for May delivery rose as much as 32 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $94.37 a barrel on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $94.36 a barrel at 5:42 p.m. Singapore time, with 672 contracts traded.

The flat price of Oman oil for immediate loading fell $1.32, or 1.4 percent, to $94.07 a barrel. Dubai crude, another Persian Gulf benchmark, fell $1.72, or 1.8 percent, to $93.34 a barrel. Abu Dhabi's Murban crude oil declined $1.47, or 1.5 percent, to $98.39 a barrel.

Saudi Aramco, the world's largest state oil company, is today expected to release prices of its various oil grades for loading in April.

The oil producer may cut prices of Arab Heavy and Arab Medium grades, which are similar in quality to Oman, as demand for high-sulfur oils declines of falling profits, three traders said.

Murban crude fell to a discount in relation to its official selling price, dropping 8 cents to a discount of 3 cents a barrel, Bloomberg data showed.

Qatar Petroleum raised prices of its crude oil loaded in February.

The Brent-Dubai exchange for swaps for April widened 1 cent to $4.86 a barrel, while the exchange for swaps for May narrowed 3 cents to $4.43, according to data from brokers PVM Oil Associates. The exchange for swaps is the price difference between Brent and Dubai swaps contracts for the same month.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nesa Subrahmaniyan in Singapore at nesas@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 5, 2008 05:51 EST