Brent settled at $107.774/bbl, down $1.90 on the day, while WTI closed at $97.412/bbl, off $1.62. The transatlantic spread widened from $8.08 last week to $10.36, back into the wide band last seen in the third quarter.

The gap reflects two separate markets. Brent tracks seaborne crude: North Sea maintenance, tighter Mediterranean and West African loadings, and a firm ICE structure keep it bid. WTI tracks Cushing: Permian pipeline takeaway remains loose, pushing the Midland discount to a yearly low. For a transshipment desk, this curve sets the delivered floor across seven grades.

The seven lines SNSUC handles — ESPO, Dubai, Oman, Urals, Basrah Light, Bonny Light, Lula — are mostly quoted as Brent plus a differential. Urals follows the Russian assessment; Lula carries a Brent premium. When Brent firms, the Middle East official selling prices, folded into Fujairah or Sohar STS delivery cost, rise in step. WTI-linked light sweet looks cheap fob USGC, but Pacific freight plus the ICE calendar spread erase most of that edge.

This week we rebuilt the delivered model. At the same discharge port — Zhoushan or Qingdao — the Brent-family versus WTI-family delivered gap moved from $2 to above $4, squeezing the transshipment margin. The take is negotiated at a $10/bbl benchmark; a wider spread is not the same as a wider profit. The number that matters is the hedged net price.