Global Diesel Margins Climb to 2025 Highs as Supply Tightens


   
   MIAMI, FL -- Global diesel refinery margins have reached their highest level 
this year, widening steadily since late October as outages in Russia and the 
Middle East and new European Union (EU) sanctions tightened supply, according 
to a U.S. Energy Information Administration report released Wednesday (12/3).
The impact has been most pronounced in the Atlantic Basin, where tighter 
balances lifted prices at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub, New York 
Harbor and the U.S. Gulf Coast, the EIA stated.
Crack spreads reflected those shifts. Diesel spreads in New York Harbor, the 
Gulf Coast and ARA all climbed above $1 gallon for the first time in more than 
a year between mid-October and mid-November, signaling stronger refining 
profitability amid constrained global inventories, according to the EIA.
In October restricted activity by Rosneft, Lukoil and Gazprom Neft and targeted 
refineries in Turkey and India that had been processing discounted Russian 
crude. Those measures followed earlier EU bans on Russian crude and refined 
products imposed after the invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, Ukrainian 
strikes on Russian refineries reduced exportable diesel, forcing buyers to 
compete more aggressively for non-Russian barrels, EIA said.
Additional outages deepened the shortage. Kuwait's Al Zour refinery has been 
offline since late October, and maintenance across the Middle East combined 
with uncertainty surrounding Nigeria's Dangote refinery added further strain to 
Atlantic Basin supply, according to the agency.
EIA said constrained global supply and firm demand have boosted the call on 
U.S. Gulf Coast refiners, where gasoline and distillate exports have climbed 
above typical levels. With several international refineries still running at 
reduced rates, the EIA said diesel margins are likely to stay elevated in the 
near term.

    

   Editor's note: This story was written with AI based on EIA information. 

    




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