Brent–WTI spread hit $7.27 (95.74 − 88.47), the widest in three months, directly squeezing USGC–Asia low-sulfur fuel oil arbitrage. This widening stems not from WTI fundamentals weakening (offshore WTI rose +0.02%), but from Brent’s Middle East geopolitical premium surge (+3.47%) and accelerated European refinery demand for high-sulfur feedstock. Fuel oil front-month jumped +2.50% to ¥4,137/t; asphalt +2.66% to ¥4,400/t; their spread narrowed to -¥263, confirming residue products shifting from passive destocking to active processing — coker and blending demand rebounding, sharply improving NGL (natural gas liquids) recovery economics. JODI data shows US crude output at 13,850 kb/d, Saudi at 6,238 kb/d, India at 556 kb/d: combined 20,644 kb/d, representing the core of global associated-gas-rich basins. Yet JODI reports zero associated gas production or handling volumes for any country — only Saudi discloses refinery input (2,297 kb/d) and end-month inventory (143,197 kb), implying heavy reliance on imported LPG and NGL re-injection. India’s refinery input (5,569 kb/d) vastly exceeds domestic output (556 kb/d), import dependency at 89.9%; yet its finished product stocks stand at just 95,989 kb (Mar 2026), with fuel oil stocks at only 4,076 kb — an absolute low. A 1%-point rise in associated gas NGL recovery would displace ~120 kt/month of imported LPG, directly easing import cost pressure. For Chinese traders, Singapore’s crude imports (715 kb/d) lack integrated associated gas handling infrastructure; current fuel oil price spike has already lifted marine fuel spot premiums, while USD/CNY at 6.6745 further inflates RMB-denominated import costs. Clients should embed NGL recovery rate clauses in ESPO and Basrah Light transshipment contracts, extend bill-of-lading verification to upstream associated gas processing certificates, and use SHA-256 batch fingerprints to lock NGL compositional provenance.