Brent settled at 113.498 and WTI at 102.908, leaving the spread at 10.59 dollars a barrel. That gap is set by Atlantic arbitrage shipping cycles; when WTI's discount widens, Gulf Coast cargoes look cheaper to Asian buyers.

Every resale quote is anchored to one expression: Brent times USD/CNY times 7.33 times grade. Plugging in Brent at 113.498 and the yuan at 6.6558, the raw CNY landed benchmark before any grade differential works out to roughly 113.498 × 6.6558 × 7.33 ≈ 5,538 yuan a tonne.

The yuan firmed from 6.71 to 6.66 over two weeks, shaving more than 30 yuan per tonne off the FX leg, but Brent rose almost 11 dollars in the same window. The FX saving was eaten and then some, so the landed benchmark still climbs. The gap between the rate locked at signing and the rate at delivery lands straight in the margin.

The seven traded grades — ESPO, Dubai, Oman, Urals, Basrah Light, Bonny Light and Lula — each layer their own differential on top of that 5,538 figure. Every line on a resale quote is broken out from this baseline, then loaded with freight, insurance and quality spread.