Crack Spreads Major Markets
Crack Spread of a product indicates profit margin for a refinery from that product, and is the difference between the value of the refined product and value of crude
A single-product crack spread reflects the difference in value between a barrel of the specified product and a barrel of crude oil
Crack spreads can also be calculated using multiple products. The most common multiple-product crack spread is the 3:2:1 crack spread. A 3:2:1 crack spread reflects gasoline and distillate production revenues from the U.S. refining industry, which generally produces roughly 2 barrels of gasoline for every barrel of distillate. The 3:2:1 crack spread is calculated by subtracting the price of 3 barrels of oil from the price of 2 barrels of gasoline and 1 barrel of distillate. Additional ratios used for multiple-product crack spreads include 5:3:2 and 2:1:1
Our section Spot Prices in Major Markets covered brief description of key products in the three major markets, US Gulf Coast, Singapore and Rotterdam, and yearly average trend in their spot prices
This section covers their crack spreads, or price difference w.r.t. WTI price for USGC products, price difference w.r.t. Dubai price for Singapore market products and price difference w.r.t. Brent price for Rotterdam market products (Source: OPEC)
Crack spreads are very volatile, and fluctuate widely depending upon demand-supply fundamentals
Fuel oil crack spreads are typically -ve, except when markets are strong, when they can turn into a +ve territory
| Year | USGC Gasoline Regular unleaded 87 vs WTI | USGC ULSD 15ppm sulphur vs WTI | USGC Fuel oil 3 pct sulphur vs WTI | Singapore Gasoline Premium unleaded 97 vs Dubai | Singapore Gasoil 0.05 pct sulphur vs Dubai | Singapore Fuel oil 380 centistokes vs Dubai | Rotterdam Gasoline Premium unleaded 98 vs Brent | Rotterdam Gasoil 10ppm sulphur vs Brent | Rotterdam Fuel oil 3.5 pct sulphur vs Brent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 18.5 | 5.5 | -6.9 | 14.4 | 15.7 | -8.4 | 25.5 | 20.1 | -10.0 |
| 2023 | 27.0 | 37.5 | -9.4 | 18.7 | 22.0 | -12.8 | 43.4 | 28.6 | -13.1 |
| 2022 | 28.8 | 51.3 | -17.7 | 21.2 | 34.3 | -19.7 | 35.2 | 41.2 | -25.7 |
| 2021 | 18.6 | 16.9 | -8.3 | 12.3 | 6.6 | -7.3 | 15.1 | 7.5 | -10.7 |
| 2020 | 8.3 | 11.3 | -4.7 | 5.4 | 6.1 | -4.7 | 9.9 | 7.7 | -8.3 |
| 2019 | 15.8 | 22.6 | -4.5 | 10.8 | 13.8 | -6.8 | 15.3 | 15.3 | -15.4 |
| 2018 | 15.5 | 21.4 | -4.8 | 11.9 | 14.7 | -4.7 | 16.5 | 15.0 | -11.9 |
| 2017 | 17.7 | 17.6 | -3.8 | 16.4 | 12.6 | -3.9 | 20.9 | 12.1 | -9.9 |
| 2016 | 14.1 | 12.7 | -11.1 | 16.6 | 10.9 | -6.3 | 19.9 | 9.6 | -14.1 |
| 2015 | 19.0 | 15.0 | -8.0 | 20.4 | 13.5 | -6.8 | 23.1 | 13.5 | -11.8 |
| 2014 | 14.8 | 18.2 | -10.5 | 15.3 | 16.0 | -10.1 | 16.0 | 13.8 | -15.4 |
| 2013 | 18.6 | 23.7 | -5.0 | 15.9 | 17.8 | -9.9 | 13.9 | 15.3 | -14.7 |
| 2012 | 27.7 | 31.9 | 5.2 | 17.3 | 19.0 | -6.0 | 15.7 | 17.7 | -11.5 |
| 2011 | 22.7 | 27.8 | 0.8 | 15.8 | 20.1 | -6.3 | 9.0 | 15.2 | -14.6 |
| 2010 | 8.4 | 9.1 | -9.8 | 12.0 | 12.3 | -5.8 | 12.8 | 11.3 | -9.4 |
| 2009 | 8.2 | 6.4 | -5.9 | 12.6 | 8.6 | -4.2 | 11.3 | 8.9 | -6.8 |
| 2008 | 5.5 | 18.8 | -27.1 | 13.9 | 29.5 | -15.8 | 6.9 | 27.7 | -24.4 |
| 2007 | 14.2 | 12.1 | -19.2 | 17.4 | 18.8 | -11.0 | 13.9 | 15.9 | -18.7 |
| 2006 | 11.6 | 10.1 | -20.5 | 14.0 | 16.8 | -14.5 | 11.2 | 15.0 | -20.5 |
| 2005 | 13.8 | 14.6 | -18.2 | 17.6 | 19.3 | -9.1 | 16.5 | 19.6 | -17.5 |
| 2004 | 11.9 | 8.2 | -12.7 | 13.5 | 13.7 | -7.1 | 13.4 | 12.4 | -10.7 |
| 2003 | 8.5 | 5.7 | -4.3 | 8.0 | 6.6 | -1.7 | 8.1 | 6.7 | -4.4 |
| 2002 | 5.7 | 3.0 | -4.1 | 4.2 | 4.3 | -2.0 | 4.6 | 3.5 | -4.1 |
| 2001 | 7.8 | 5.8 | -6.0 | 4.6 | 4.5 | -3.4 | 6.5 | 5.9 | -5.8 |
| 2000 | 6.9 | 5.8 | -7.4 | 6.3 | 6.2 | -3.2 | 8.9 | 7.5 | -5.8 |
| 1999 | 4.0 | 1.8 | -3.7 | 3.8 | 1.9 | -2.5 | 4.3 | 2.5 | -3.5 |
| 1998 | 4.8 | 3.2 | -3.1 | 5.0 | 3.3 | -2.3 | 5.1 | 3.8 | -2.4 |
| 1997 | 5.9 | 3.8 | -4.5 | 6.5 | 6.1 | -3.4 | 5.5 | 4.9 | -4.2 |
| 1996 | 4.2 | 3.8 | -5.4 | 5.0 | 8.5 | -3.1 | 5.1 | 6.9 | -3.1 |
| 1995 | 3.9 | 2.5 | -3.7 | 6.0 | 5.5 | -2.1 | 4.5 | 4.1 | -2.0 |
| 1994 | 3.7 | 3.2 | -4.5 | 6.4 | 6.1 | -2.7 | 4.8 | 4.8 | -2.3 |
| 1993 | 4.4 | 4.4 | -6.6 | 9.1 | 9.1 | -4.4 | 6.8 | 7.0 | -5.2 |
| 1992 | 5.2 | 4.2 | -7.5 | 9.4 | 7.9 | -5.0 | 7.3 | 6.2 | -4.9 |
| 1991 | 7.3 | 5.1 | -9.0 | 12.0 | 11.7 | -3.9 | 10.9 | 10.0 | -4.9 |
| 1990 | 7.1 | 5.1 | -7.9 | 12.2 | 8.9 | -4.8 | 11.4 | 7.7 | -5.4 |
| 1989 | 5.3 | 3.8 | -4.6 | 7.6 | 7.1 | -2.7 | 8.5 | 5.7 | -2.5 |
| 1988 | 5.2 | 3.5 | -4.1 | 6.7 | 5.2 | -2.6 | 7.3 | 4.6 | -2.9 |
| 1987 | 2.7 | 2.6 | -2.9 | 6.3 | 4.1 | -2.3 | 4.7 | 3.7 | -2.1 |
| 1986 | 22.7 | 21.4 | 10.5 | 18.2 | 23.3 | 12.7 | 24.2 | 22.6 | 12.1 |
| 1985 | 4.8 | 3.7 | -4.8 | 0.5 | 3.8 | -3.3 | 5.2 | 5.2 | -3.6 |
| 1984 | 3.6 | 4.1 | -2.0 | 0.1 | 4.0 | -1.3 | 3.6 | 3.9 | -0.6 |
| 1983 | 5.8 | 3.7 | -4.7 | 2.3 | 5.4 | -2.8 | 6.5 | 4.6 | -3.5 |
| 1982 | 1.3 | 8.5 | -6.0 | 8.5 | 7.2 | -6.2 | |||
| 1981 | 1.5 | 6.6 | -6.3 | 9.3 | 4.8 | -7.6 | |||
| 1980 | -1.3 | 6.6 | -9.2 | 7.1 | 4.6 | -10.7 |