Crude Oil
Overview
Argus crude oil pricing has been entrenched in the world’s global markets since 1970. We report each market the way it trades, using transparent market-appropriate methodologies. Our price assessments have been adopted in a wide range of commercial contracts, official selling prices, internal transfer pricing, tax formulas and economic modelling used by governments and companies operating in the upstream, midstream and downstream oil industries.
With US crudes now in demand globally, the intersection between pipeline and seagoing markets at the US Gulf coast is central to global crude pricing. For more than two decades Argus WTI assessments at Midland and Houston have been the standard physical benchmarks for US crude, as well as the settlement indexes for a robust derivatives market.
Our rich, deep and trusted coverage of the global crude oil markets is unrivalled. To make informed business decisions in today’s oil markets, you need Argus.
Crude Market Intelligence
Deepen your understanding of the global crude oil market and see how Argus brings clarity — from key market drivers and rigorous methodology to the actionable insights that help customers make confident decisions.
Latest crude oil news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global crude oil industry.
Japan offers $10bn to secure Asian oil supplies
Japan offers $10bn to secure Asian oil supplies
Osaka, 16 April (Argus) — Japan plans to provide around $10bn in financial aid to help Asian countries secure crude oil supplies and ensure stable shipments of petroleum-derived products to Japan, following disruptions to crude and oil product flows from the Middle East. Tokyo will establish a $10bn financial framework to help Asian partners procure alternative crude supplies, such as from the US, and to strengthen supply chain resilience, prime minister Sanae Takaichi said on 15 April. She warned that fuel shortages in Asia could disrupt Japan's access to essential goods, particularly medical supplies such as dialysis equipment and surgical materials, from the region, with serious consequences for the economy and society. The $10bn support would be equivalent to up to about 1.2bn bl of crude, or roughly one year's worth of imports for Asean countries, Takaichi said. The funding would help fill gaps in the financial capacity or creditworthiness required for crude procurement, even under normal market conditions, she added. Japan does not aims to supply oil to countries hit by Middle East tensions, but to work with Asian partners to build resilient energy and critical minerals supply chains. Japan has not faced a severe domestic crude oil supply shortage, supported by sufficient stockpiles and alternative procurement options such as imports from the US. Overall inventories, including national, private and joint stockpiles, stood at about 221 days of domestic demand as of 13 April, according to preliminary estimates from the trade and industry ministry Meti. Japan's petroleum reserves are primarily intended to meet domestic demand , although the government has not ruled out for the possibility of exporting any surplus supplies. The new partnership with Asia does not involve reallocating Japan's strategic petroleum reserves, and it will have no adverse impact whatsoever on domestic supply and demand, Takaichi said. The financial package will not be limited to procuring alternative crude oil and petroleum products, but will also be used for other purchases, including the construction of oil storage systems and infrastructure to expand crude reserves across Asia, as well as energy diversification into LNG, biofuels, next-generation solar and nuclear power, and critical minerals. Details on the allocation and duration of the financial support have yet to be determined, a foreign ministry official told Argus . Tokyo will not draw on additional budget funds for the initiative, instead using existing resources, mainly through state-owned Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC), Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) and Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA), the official said. Takaichi unveiled the financial plan following the Japan-led Asia Zero Emission Community (Azec) Plus meeting, held online on 15 April, to discuss countermeasures against supply disruptions affecting shipments through the strait of Hormuz, which have had the greatest impact on Asian counties. Leaders from 11 Azec member states participated, along with representatives from South Korea, East Timor, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. By Motoko Hasegawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Iran widens shipping threat beyond Hormuz
Iran widens shipping threat beyond Hormuz
Dubai, 15 April (Argus) — Iran has warned it could disrupt shipping across key regional waterways, including the Red Sea, in response to US restrictions on vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports. It marks a broadening of Tehran's maritime threat beyond the strait of Hormuz, where vessel traffic has already slowed sharply since the conflict between the US and Iran started in late February. Ali Abdollahi, head of Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Military Headquarters — the country's highest operational military command — said continued US actions targeting Iranian ports and tankers would "constitute a prelude to a violation of the ceasefire" between Washington and Tehran. He warned Iran would respond by preventing "any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and the Red Sea" if the US blockade persists. The US began a naval blockade on vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports on Monday. The US military said no vessels breached the restrictions in the first 24 hours. It said several ships had been instructed to turn around and return to Iranian ports. Vessels calling at or leaving non-Iranian ports are not subject to the measures. At least seven ships transited the strait of Hormuz over the past 24 hours with AIS signals active, according to ship-tracking data from Kpler and MarineTraffic. Despite the escalation in rhetoric, both sides have signalled scope for renewed diplomacy. US president Donald Trump told ABC News that the conflict could end "very soon". Vice-president JD Vance, who led the US delegation in recent talks, said he remained positive about the trajectory of negotiations following discussions in Islamabad that ended without a breakthrough. The statements have raised expectations that US and Iranian officials could return to Pakistan, or another venue, for further talks. Washington has continued to portray regional instability as driven by Tehran and its allies. Speaking at the UN on 14 April, US representative Jennifer Locetta said Iran continues to enable destabilising activity across the region, including support for Yemen's Houthi movement. The US has accused the Houthis of launching repeated missile and drone attacks on shipping in and around the Red Sea and has called for tighter compliance with UN inspection mechanisms for vessels bound for Houthi-controlled ports. By Bachar Halabi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Finance access hampering African refinery upgrades
Finance access hampering African refinery upgrades
Cape Town, 15 April (Argus) — Ivory Coast refiner SIR today said a plan for upgrades is delayed, and other regional operators said they were struggling to source local finance to realise upgrade and expansion plans. SIR will complete upgrades to meet Afri-6 road fuel standards at its 75,000 b/d Abidjan refinery by 2033, company head Tiotioho Soro told the Arda conference in Cape Town. Construction of a gasoil desulphurisation unit began in October and will finish in 2029, while a continuous catalyst reformer (CCR) unit and isomerisation unit will be built between 2030-33, Soro said. Benzene content in gasoline will be lowered from 5pc to 1pc in this period, while aromatics in blended gasoline will fall from 42pc to 35pc. The reformer and isomerisation units were to be built by 2028, when SIR was also targeting 1pc benzene content in its gasoline, the company's director of development and energy transition Raphael Souanga told the conference [two years ago] (https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2561705). Construction of a refinery unit that could run Ivorian Baleine crude is planned between 2028-32, Soro said. It is unclear if the plan is for a new crude facility, or for expansion to Abidjan. SIR had planned to increase capacity at Abidjan to 90,000 b/d by 2028, Souanga said previously. SIR is otherwise seeking to install an unspecified number of single point (SPM) and conventional buoy moorings (CBM), with project completion forecast for 2029, Soro said. An expansion in crude and refined products storage capacity is envisaged to be built between 2027-29. Capacity was not specified. Investors have expressed interest in financing SIR's expansion and modernisation plans, Soro said today. Finance access varies between African refiners By contrast, Congo (Brazzaville) state-owned refiner Coraf sees the major constraint on its 24,000 b/d Pointe-Noire refinery upgrade project as "the difficulty in finding finance", according to the company's deputy general administrator Patrice K'Yao. The country's only refinery is loss-making because of low domestic retail fuel prices and is targeting an improvement in road fuel specifications and a cut to fuel oil yields. Road fuels at the plant currently contain 150ppm sulphur in gasoline and 500ppm in gasoil, while discount fuel oil represents half of product output. Production at Pointe-Noire covers 50-70pc of local oil products demand, according to K'Yao. Coraf also plans to debottleneck its reformer unit to raise the amount of gasoline sold domestically and to curb naphtha exports. It is building a 50,000 b/d refinery, also in Pointe-Noire, with completion now put in 2027. This is a latest delay to the project, where construction began officially in 2021. A second phase would double capacity to 100,000 b/d, requiring another two years to complete, according to Itoua. Access to "long-term, low-cost financing remains limited" for refiners, said Nigerian refinery association chairman Coran Momoh-Jimah Oyarekhua. African governments should facilitate financing for refineries "through initiatives such as providing first-loss or anchor capital to de-risk projects and crowd in private investment", he said. Models such as "crude-backed financing structures, long-term offtake agreements integrating producers, refiners and traders" could mitigate hurdles to sourcing finance, he said. Home-grown African financial institutions are harder to find for financing for Senegalese state-owned SAR's refinery expansion plans, general manager Mamadou Diop said today. But SAR is otherwise not short of investor interest to expand the nameplate capacity of its 30,000 b/d Dakar refinery to 110,000 b/d through the construction of a second plant, according to Diop. Chinese firms are most likely to help finance the delayed expansion , according to a source close to the refinery. The Dakar refinery expansion would lead to output exceeding current national demand or 3mn t/yr, despite strong oil product demand growth of around 4pc/yr in the country, Diop said. By George Maher-Bonnett Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Asian refineries to run less efficiently on crude shift
Asian refineries to run less efficiently on crude shift
Singapore, 15 April (Argus) — Shifting crude slates at Asia-Pacific refiners are reshaping regional refined-products output, weighing on residual fuel production and potentially leaving secondary units running less efficiently, market participants said. Asian refiners are scrambling to secure alternative crude feedstocks because access to their regular supplies from the Mideast Gulf was effectively cut off by the US-Iran war, prompting many to look increasingly towards the US for replacement supply. US light sweet crude has emerged as a leading substitute for Middle Eastern heavy and medium sour grades stuck at or unable to transit the strait of Hormuz. A record 3.5mn b/d of US crude is expected to arrive in Asia-Pacific for June delivery, exceeding the previous record of 2.5mn b/d set just a month ago, according to ship-tracking data from Kpler. Japan, which relies heavily on Mideast Gulf crude, has become a key buyer of US cargoes. Japanese refiners have so far purchased more than 530,000 b/d of US crude for June delivery , according to Argus deal tracking data, easily surpassing the previous monthly high of 290,000 b/d in December 2025, based on the country's trade and industry ministry figures. ExxonMobil also bought just over 230,000 b/d of WTI for delivery to its 592,000 b/d Jurong refinery in Singapore in June. The Jurong refinery stopped importing US crude in May last year, after it upgraded residue processing and shifted to a heavier, more sulphurous slate. Lighter crude appetite The shift from heavier sour grades to lighter sweet crudes is expected to reduce residual fuel output, with knock-on effects on secondary unit feedstock availability, market participants said. Ironically, complex refiners — designed to upgrade residual fuels into higher-value gasoil and gasoline — may find themselves short of feedstock for secondary units under a lighter crude slate, resulting in lower operational efficiency. Argus Consulting research on Japanese refineries — which typically operate cracking configurations — shows the crude switch could increase light distillate output while sharply reducing residual fuel oil production. This could leave refiners struggling to source feedstock for hydrocrackers and fluid catalytic crackers, the key units for gasoil and gasoline production. It remains unclear whether refiners not accustomed to running such light slates will face operational constraints, but the impact may be limited in the near term while run rates remain below normal due to rationed crude supplies, an Argus consultant said. Some refiners may instead turn to spot purchases of secondary feedstocks such as vacuum gasoil (VGO) and straight-run fuel oil (SRFO), but these options come at elevated costs, according to an Argus survey. Refiners are seeking to buy VGO and SRFO, but supply is currently tight, a Singapore-based senior fuel oil trader said. It also depends on whether a refinery has a direct injection facility, which allows secondary unit feedstocks to be fed directly into downstream units rather than through the crude distillation unit (CDU), a senior oil analyst said. Vietnam's Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical (NSRP), for example, has made unusual SRFO and VGO purchases due to reduced residual output after switching to lighter crude grades, partly as a result of the US-Iran war. NSRP typically processes medium sour Kuwait Export Crude, but supply disruptions have forced it to source alternative grades — a process that had already begun prior to the conflict — resulting in lower production of heavier products such as fuel oil and VGO. Market participants warned of a potential double-whammy effect for Asian refiners — crude shortages force lower refinery run rates while mismatched crude slates reduce secondary unit efficiency, ultimately weighing on refined-products output. By Aldric Chew, Tng Yong Li and Chay You Liang Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Spotlight content
Browse the latest thought leadership produced by our global team of experts.
Explore our crude oil products
Key price assessments
Argus prices are recognised by the market as trusted and reliable indicators of the real market value. Explore some of our most widely used and relevant price assessments.
