Asia refining margins rocket to highest in nearly 4 years on Hormuz supply disruption

Financial Times, March 5, 2026 – Jet fuel markets are experiencing extreme dislocation, with Europe’s jet premium over Brent reaching around $97/bbl and Asia briefly spiking to $200/bbl as supply disruptions delay Middle East shipments. As Sparta analyst June Goh notes, the market is in “absolute chaos”, with the conflict introducing a completely different marginal economics, meaning traditional refinery margins and price relationships between crude and products are breaking down. For traders, this signals tighter prompt supply, wider distillate cracks, and heightened volatility across jet and middle distillate markets.