Both crude benchmarks fell in the overnight session. Brent settled at $109.742/bbl, down $1.75, while WTI closed at $100.915, down $2.28 — a steeper drop that dragged the Brent–WTI spread back to $8.83 from the $11 band seen last week. The narrowing WTI discount reopens the US Gulf Coast light crude export arbitrage and forces a reshuffle of delivered-parity rankings for short-haul sweet grades like ESPO, Dubai and Oman.

What stands out is that China's heavy-product complex did not follow crude lower. Shanghai fuel oil held at ¥5,295/t, up ¥5.31, and bitumen at ¥4,828/t, up ¥4.96. With feedstock cost down nearly 2% and product values flat, independent refiners' cracks widened passively — coking-feed and bunker-blend margins look more comfortable than a week ago.

The onshore yuan firmed to 6.668, 0.033 stronger on the day. Run through the listed-price formula (Brent × FX × 7.33 × grade), the RMB delivered-and-dutied import cost steps down a notch, widening the tax gap between bonded bunker fuel and domestic heavy products. For a structure where SNSUC supplies from an offshore SPV and the Chinese refiner clears customs itself, lower delivered cost directly supports downstream offtake appetite.