Brent stood at $104.489/bbl and WTI at $91.719/bbl as of 01:50 on October 10, leaving a $12.77 transatlantic spread. The gap has held above $12 for four straight sessions, widening from $9.42 at the start of the month. A wider spread does not mean crude got dearer; it reflects softer Cushing inventories and weaker US Gulf export differentials — and it hits SNSUC's seven re-export grades unevenly.

Among the seven grades — ESPO, Dubai, Oman, Urals, Basrah Light, Bonny Light and Lula — ESPO and Oman price off Brent, Dubai follows the Platts window, Urals runs on the capped-price mechanism, and the remaining three carry their own regional premiums. When the spread widens, US buyers anchored to WTI see lower delivered cost while Brent-anchored Asian arrival prices barely move, which steadies the STS transshipment structure SNSUC runs at Sohar and Fujairah.

On the desk, delivered re-export cost equals FOB at load port plus freight plus STS transshipment fee plus FX conversion. At a $104.50 Brent and the 7.33 listing coefficient, a single-grade crude reference listing lands near RMB 766 per barrel; the same math off WTI 91.7 gives RMB 672. The RMB 94 gap is exactly the routing margin a trader must lock before the letter of credit is opened.