Crack spreads for diesel fuel increased sharply from mid-October to mid-November, with spreads in New York Harbor, the US Gulf Coast, and the Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp (ARA) shipping hub all rising above $1 per gallon for the first time in over a year
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Global refinery margins for diesel surged to their highest levels in the last 12 months, ending November 2025, aided by the latest European Union (EU) sanctions on Russia targeting countries like India and Türkiye, which process cheap crude oil into diesel that is then sold across Asia and Europe.
Besides this, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) pointed out that Ukraine’s attacks on Russia’s refinery and petroleum export facilities and an ongoing outage at Kuwait’s Al Zour refinery since late October has further tightened available refined products supplies.
Crack spreads for diesel fuel increased sharply from mid-October to mid-November, with spreads in New York Harbor, the US Gulf Coast, and the Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp (ARA) shipping hub all rising above $1 per gallon for the first time in over a year, it pointed out.
“The latest sanctions aim to diminish the value of Russia’s crude oil by targeting refineries in Türkiye and India, which have been processing discounted crude oil from Russia and exporting refined products, including diesel, to the EU,” US EIA emphasised.
Cracks indicate the profitability of refining crude oil into certain products. They are calculated by subtracting the spot market price of a gallon of crude oil from the price of a gallon of refined product.
Refinery margins
Global refinery margins for diesel have widened since late October and increased to their highest level all year, following refinery outages in Russia and in the Middle East and new sanctions on Russia’s crude oil, leading to limited refinery production and a decreased global diesel supply, US EIA said.
The impact was most pronounced in the Atlantic Basin, contributing to higher prices at the ARA shipping hub, a key benchmark for European prices, as well as at New York Harbor and the US Gulf Coast. The higher global prices also affected prices in the US as refiners there can sell into both domestic and international markets.
New EU sanctions against Russia have contributed to tight global diesel supply and rising crack spreads. In October 2025, the EU tightened restrictions on the major Russian oil companies Rosneft, Lukoil, and Gazprom Neft.
That tightening followed EU sanctions against Russia implemented in July that included an import ban on refined products derived from Russia’s crude oil.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s attacks on Russia’s refinery and petroleum export facilities have curbed Russia’s product exports of the fuels. Reduced exports directly affect countries that have continued to import fuels from Russia.
“In the absence of discounted Russian volumes, these markets must instead bid for available volumes from other sources, further contributing to rising diesel prices,” the US government agency said.
Outside of Russia, an ongoing outage at Kuwait’s Al Zour refinery since late October has further tightened available refined products supplies. The Al Zour refinery came online in 2023 and helped provide fuel supplies to Europe after the implementation of the import ban on oil products from Russia earlier that year.
The outage at Al Zour comes amid a relatively strong refinery maintenance season in the Middle East, as several other refineries in the region temporarily reduce their processing rates. In addition, the progress of refinery maintenance at the large Dangote refinery in Nigeria has received mixed reports, putting additional pressure on the Atlantic Basin market, it added.
Sustained international demand amid constraints on international supply have contributed to increased demand for products from those refiners that remain operational. It includes refiners on the US Gulf Coast, which supply most US petroleum product exports. American gasoline exports have risen to their highest levels so far this year. Distillate fuel oil exports, which include diesel, have also been high in November 2025, relative to the five-year (2020–24) average, US EIA said.
Published on December 5, 2025
