Brent added $1.34 to $99.61 while WTI gained $0.96 to $91.39. Both benchmarks rose, but Brent moved faster, stretching the spread from $6.83 to $8.22. A wider spread means the transshipment ledger has to be rebuilt.

SNSUC currently runs seven transshipment lines, each with its own load port and discharge pattern: ESPO out of Russia's Far East into Chinese ports, Dubai and Oman from the Middle East, Urals from the Baltic or Black Sea, Basrah Light from Iraq's Basra, Bonny Light from Nigeria, and Lula from Brazil. Every one of those cargoes is priced off Brent or WTI plus a premium, so each dollar the spread moves changes which benchmark is cheaper for the same parcel by several points of delivered cost.

At $8.22 the spread sits well above the sub-$7 level seen at the end of October. For STS transshipment deals priced on the bill-of-lading date, the route structure locked before the letter of credit opened does not change the discharge port, but margin calls and bank credit lines per vessel move with it. The practical step is to refresh delivered-cost figures for the three to five lines scheduled to be signed this week against the new spread rather than quoting off the old number.