Brent and WTI opened at $108.34 and $100.37 respectively, with the spread stretching from the previous session's $7.6 area to $7.96/bbl. For traders running Middle East-to-Far-East transshipment, that figure alone decides whether the discounts on the Basrah Light and Oman legs still cover freight.

A widening spread usually signals a growing regional mismatch between light-sweet and medium-sour barrels. This week Asian refiners entered a concentrated turnaround window, tightening straight-run naphtha from Dubai/Oman grades and lifting spot premiums, while WTI at Cushing was held back by US Gulf pipeline export timing.

The seven grades on SNSUC's transshipment ledger ESPO, Dubai, Oman, Urals, Basrah Light, Bonny Light and Lula are priced off different anchors. ESPO tracks its premium to Dubai, Lula follows Petrobras tenders, and Urals sits on the G7 price-cap compliance line. One spread table means seven landed-and-dutied cost lines recalculated individually.

On the execution side, open the day with a back-to-back hedge between WTI-denominated term barrels and Brent-denominated spot. Every $0.10 the spread widens moves $100k of margin on a one-million-barrel transshipment. Keep the risk stop at $8.20/bbl; break it and cut length while locking the FX leg.