ICE front-month MOPAG oil products open interest shrinks 67.95% MOM in March in Oil & Companies News 08/04/2026 The total open interest for front-month April Mean of Platts Arab Gulf middle distillate swaps contracts on the Intercontinental Exchange fell 67.95% month over month to 1.085 million barrels in March, the latest ICE data showed April 6. The largest decrease was seen in open interest for front-month April FOB Persian Gulf gasoil swap contracts that fell 59.92% month over month to 1.075 million barrels in March, ICE data showed. The decline in the front-month gasoil swap contracts’ open interest followed the Middle East war, which triggered a global oil supply crunch. “Any contract [for middle distillates] inside Hormuz is being force majeured on,” a Middle East-based gasoil trader said. Due to the supply shortage, cash differentials of ultra-low sulfur gasoil cargoes from the Persian Gulf jumped multiple fold on the month, from $2.57/b in February to $26.37/b in March, Platts data showed. The cash differential reached an all-time high since the assessment’s launch in April 2015, at $49/b, the data showed. Platts is part of S&P Global Energy. The shipping disruption at the Strait of Hormuz also caused the front-month gasoil exchange of futures for swaps — the spread between Singapore 10 parts per million sulfur gasoil swaps and the corresponding Intercontinental Exchange low sulfur gasoil futures contract — to rally to a record high of plus $77.21/mt March 31. The gasoil EFS spread is closely watched by market participants as an indicator of East-West arbitrage economics, and a less negative spread points toward arbitrage becoming less economically lucrative. Swing barrels from India had been diverted to Asia after the arbitrage incentive to Europe remained shut, with India having shipped 67% of its diesel and gasoil to Southeast Asia in March, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea(opens in a new tab) data. The Platts-assessed FOB Fujairah gasoil cargo price averaged $169.34/b in March, up from $86.89/b in February and $80.23/b in January. There was no open interest for front-month April FOB Persian Gulf jet fuel/kerosene swap contracts, a first since Platts began tracking the data in July 2025. The lack of liquidity for the front-month April FOB Persian Gulf swap contracts mirrors quiet physical market activity, as flows through the Strait of Hormuz remain restricted amid the Middle East war. For the jet fuel market, the Strait of Hormuz is an especially vital waterway for outflows from the Middle East, as 86% of all jet fuel products are loaded in the Persian Gulf. “Not many people are showing anything, and not everyone can lift cargoes from Sohar and Duqm,” said a regional jet fuel trader. The Platts-assessed FOB Persian Gulf jet fuel/kerosene front-month swap crack spread against front-month Dubai swap — a measure of the product’s relative strength to the crude from which it was refined — averaged $61.23/b in March, widening from an average of $15.99/b in February. At the 0830 GMT April 6 Asian close, the crack spread stood at $63.70/b. The Platts-assessed FOB Fujairah jet fuel/kerosene cargo price averaged $178.59/b in March, up from $85.74/b in February and $80.40/b in January. The Platts FOB Fujairah assessments for middle distillates were first published on Oct. 3, 2016. Light ends open interest halves In light ends, the open interest for front-month April MOPAG naphtha swap fell 58.49% month over month to 88,000 m