Brent Surges, but Brent-WTI Spread Remains Large

Brent Crude surged above $110 this week and WTI Crude moved above $96, but the spread between the two remains wide. This chart shows Brent trading some $16 higher than WTI. The indicator window shows the BRENT/WTIC ratio nearing 1.2 for the first time since early March. This is helping the refiners because they buy their raw material (oil) at WTI prices and sell their refined products at Brent prices. Note that Valero (VLO) is up over 35% the last two months.