Fuel and Freight Daily Update - 7/28/25

08/01/2025

All pricing reflects end‑of‑day settlements from July 25th, 2025

• WTI (Sept): $65.16 ▼ 0.87

• Brent (Sept): $68.44 ▼ 0.74

• RBOB (Aug): $2.0970 ▼ 0.0072

• ULSD (HO Aug): $2.4062 ▼ 0.0067

• HO/Brent (Sept): $31.48 ▲ 0.34

• RB/Brent (Sept): $18.22 ▲ 0.23

• HO/WTI Crack (Sept): $34.76 ▲ 0.47

Colonial Pipeline Differentials:

• ULSD 62g (C43): -5.75

• Jet Fuel 54g (C43): -27.00

LT (ULSD) CME Blocks:

BALMO: -8.33
Q4 ’25 Avg: -10.67
Q1 ’26 Avg: -8.80
Q2 ’26 Avg: -6.40
Q3 ’26 Avg: -6.30

ME (Jet) CME Blocks:

BALMO: -27.13
Q4 ’25 Avg: -25.63
Q1 ’26 Avg: -20.96
Q2 ’26 Avg: -18.34
Q3 ’26 Avg: -18.96

RIN Futures (Dec ’25)

• D6 (Ethanol): $1.2025 ▼ 0.0075

• D4 (Biodiesel): $1.2625 ▼ 0.0140

• D5 (Advanced): $1.2575 ▲ 0.0025

• D3 (Cellulosic): $2.1800 (flat)

Clean Tankers
The U.S. Gulf continues to carry more clean product vessels than usual, but steady cargoes heading to Latin America and the East Coast are helping to uphold rates. Tanker operators are factoring in added voyage time and logistical risk as a standard expectation, preventing any immediate erosion in pricing—even amid heavy tonnage. That said, the balance remains delicate; if shipments ease off or repositioning speeds up, rates could come under pressure.

Crude Tankers
VLCCs are still avoiding transit through the Red Sea and Gulf chokepoints, instead taking the much longer Cape of Good Hope route. These extended trips are tying up capacity globally and supporting freight rates, particularly on long-haul routes from the Middle East into Asia. With no indications that routing behavior is shifting, sentiment in this segment stays firm.

LNG Shipping
LNG charter rates remain robust. Limited available vessels and the continuation of risk-averse routing are keeping voyage cycles long and tonnage tight. Demand from the Atlantic basin is steady, and with routing caution still baked into planning, pricing remains elevated. There’s little slack in the system to absorb any sudden upswing in demand.

Routing & Geopolitical Conditions
No notable changes in logistical behavior: the Cape of Good Hope remains the preferred alternative for clean, crude, and LNG flows, bypassing Hormuz and Suez. These longer routes continue to add time, increase costs, and limit available tonnage—creating a freight climate more dictated by caution than efficiency.