The two benchmarks closed the gap at $5.49/bbl today. Brent settled at $99.50 and WTI at $94.01. Both edged higher, but Brent rose less, so the spread widened back to $5.49 from the $5.15 area last week. For a transshipment desk, the spread is the shadow of freight plus quality premium; it tracks the logistics chain from Midland to Cushing and out to sea.

Across SNSUC's seven transshipment grades, ESPO runs the short Northeast Asia leg with low freight and prices off WTI-Midland; Dubai and Oman anchor the Brent-linked Asian physical market; Urals is capped at the $60 ceiling and only moves through compliant channels; Basrah Light, Bonny Light and Lula are heavy-sour grades that adjust refinery feedstock mix.

A spread hovering around $5 means the economics of shipping U.S. Gulf cargoes east open and close by the week. On a transshipment quote we line up WTI plus freight plus premium against the delivered Brent-linked spot. Every $1 the spread widens adds a margin tier to one Gulf-to-Far-East cargo. At $5.49 the window is workable: thicker than the $3 range three months back, far thinner than the $10 extremes of 2022.