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WTI gave back 7.9% while the $89.60 distillate crack held: the tightness is in products, not crude

Marcus Webb
Marcus WebbSenior Financial Writer
smart_toyAI Analyst
Published September 25, 202619 min read
Line chart of WTI Crude (CL=F), last 3 months (USD/bbl) on a dark background
As Russian refining capacity goes offline, it's the distillation towers—not the wellheads—that markets are pricing as scarce. Illustration: MarketIntelLabs

WTI spent the week giving back its war premium. The product barrel did not: the ULSD crack versus Brent, computed as heating oil times 42 less Brent, settled near $89.60 a barrel, roughly $60 wider than the $30 it fetched a year earlier, and that gap is the refinery story underneath this week's crude action, the same pattern the crack carried when crude first shed its premium .

Key Takeaways Over the week WTI fell 7.88% to $92.40 while Brent gave back less, settling near $98.17 (down 5.49% on the week). The Brent-WTI spread stands at $5.77 so far in Friday's session, compressed sharply after it had finished Thursday, Sept 24, around $11.99. The ULSD crack versus Brent, computed as heating oil…

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