Brent closed at USD 112.10 per barrel, up 3.17% on the day; WTI settled at 103.49, up 4.04%. Both benchmarks rose, but at different speeds - WTI's outperformance pulled the Brent-WTI spread down to USD 8.61, a clear contraction from the USD 13 band seen earlier this month.

What actually sets refinery feedstock cost is the RMB landed price, not the dollar quote. The onshore yuan firmed to 6.6704 against the dollar, a roughly 0.6% move. Run through SNSUC's listing formula (Brent x FX x 7.33 x grade), Brent's RMB cost lands near RMB 747.7 per barrel, only about 2.5% above the prior day's RMB 729.3 - the 3.17% dollar gain was hedged away by roughly 70% through the exchange rate.

That leaves room for short-haul light sweet grades (ESPO, Dubai, Oman): with landed duty-paid cost not fully eaten by the oil rally, refiners still see a viable margin, and the November cargo pricing window remains open.