Refinery runs climbed 365 Mb/d to 16.6 MMb/d last week (see Figure 1), roughly 850 Mb/d above year ago levels, as refiners responded to exceptionally strong margins created by surging product prices. The 3-2-1 crack spread increased sharply by $15.59/bbl week over week, reaching $55.78 per barrel on Friday, March 20 (see Figure 2). The move was primarily driven by strength in distillates, with diesel cracks surging to $87.02/bbl, while gasoline cracks also improved to $40.16/bbl. This strength was supported by wholesale gasoline and diesel prices climbing to their highest levels since 2022. At the same time, global crude fundamentals remained supportive, with Brent settling at $112.19/bbl, the Brent WTI spread widening to $13.96/bbl, and the Midland MEH differential reaching $3.36/bbl amid ongoing Persian Gulf disruptions and fears of tighter global crude flows.
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International Brent versus Domestic WTI Crude Oil Price Differential Blowout
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Basket Case – The $100/bbl Diesel Crack, or How 2026 Exposed the Fragility of Global Refining
For many, 2026 will be remembered as the year that diesel cracks topped the century mark ($100/bbl) for the first time, surpassing even the post-COVID boom year of 2022. Today, we examine the various factors driving this run-up and what they reveal about the broader physical refined products market.
