Global crude arbitrage platform
The leading global crude arbitrage solution for traders.
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Kpler is one of the few truly objective research outfits. No agenda, just data-driven insights.
Aldo Spanjer, Commodity Strategist
Landed value
Pinpoint the most profitable crude routes by comparing delivered values across regions, factoring in freight, quality, and pricing.
- Split by origin/destination, grades, matrix granularity (5 day, 10 day, or monthly), vessel classifications, refinery type
- Greyscale cells update every 30 minutes
Refining margins
Instantly gauge refinery profitability by tracking crude costs versus refined product values across global markets.
- The matrix displays refining margins by crude, refinery type, route, vessel type, and voyage time
- The refining margin view is the profit lens: how much money can a refiner make running this crude?
- It shows the absolute profit potential of each crude for a refinery type
- The landed value doesn’t take crude quality into consideration - the refinery margin does
- This view is useful for ranking crude grades for a refinery
Arbitrage
Spot real-time price gaps between markets to uncover high-value trading and reallocation opportunities.
- Shows whether an imported crude delivers higher profitability than the local reference grade — the ultimate “is it worth switching?” test
- Distills complex economics into a simple red/green signal, saving hours of manual diff and margin comparisons
- Highlights incremental gains or losses versus local supply, so refiners and traders can act quickly on open arbs or avoid loss-making moves
Transparent value breakdown
See exactly what drives landed value with a full breakdown of freight, quality, and pricing components.
- Displays the component and subcomponent values for:
- FOB diff
- Time structure
- Benchmark spread
- Freight
- Costs
- See clearly why a landed value, refining margin, or arbitrage value has changed by interrogating the component values
Scenario builder
The Scenario builder is an interactive tool that helps traders, analysts, and risk managers test, compare, and visualise arbitrage opportunities in dynamic market conditions.
- Custom assumptions: Adjust inputs such as freight rates, duties, and pricing basis to reflect the specific market environment you want to test
- Scenario modelling: Evaluate how a particular set of conditions impacts arbitrage economics
- Sensitivity exploration: Quickly see how changing a single assumption (e.g., freight or duty) shifts the outcome of a trade
Compare grade value across trading regions
The comparison feature lets users quickly benchmark arbitrage values or refining margins for a crude grade across multiple regions, helping them see where that crude is most competitively valued.
- Compare a single crude grade across several destination markets in one view.
- Compare multiple crudes within a trading region.
- Instantly spot which regions offer the strongest economics or weakest demand signals.
- Supports faster, data-driven decisions on pricing, tender strategy, and market allocation.
Flows vs arbitrage time series
Correlate trade flows with arbitrage signals to time market entries and validate trading strategies.
- See economics turn into action. Overlay past flows with arb values to reveal when traders actually moved on an opportunity
- Gauge momentum in hindsight. Rising flows after open arbs confirm windows that were lifted; flat flows show missed or constrained plays
- Learn the lag. Measure how long it took flows to respond, sharpening your instincts for timing the next window
Sankey diagram
Visualise global trade flows in one view: see where crude moves and why.
- Identify active arbitrage opportunities. Green highlighted flows reveal which trades are actually being executed, not just theoretical. For example, see at a glance when USGC to Asia routes open up and are worth deeper analysis
- Distinguish theory from reality. Thin green lines indicate arbitrage that may look attractive on paper but face practical limitations - such as refinery constraints, competing trades, limited supply, or term contracts
- Spot scale and opportunity. Quickly identify high-volume, high-margin flows versus niche or constrained trades, helping you prioritise the biggest, most actionable opportunities
Cumulative fixtures
Track shipping activity over time to gauge market momentum and identify emerging or closing arbitrage plays.
- Track market momentum. See how quickly fixtures are accumulating for a given arbitrage versus historical booking patterns
- Spot early movers. A faster booking pace signals traders are already seizing the opportunity — slower pace may mean it’s still underexploited
- Gauge saturation risk. Compare against last month’s and one-year averages to judge whether the window is filling up or still has room to run
News & analysis
Get expert, data-backed insight on what’s moving markets and driving arbitrage opportunities today.
- The arb view. Weekly overview of crude arbitrage flows, highlighting global market-moving signals, emerging trends, and forward-looking insights
- Market pulse. Ad hoc commentary with analysis on current market developments and evolving arbitrage opportunities
- The daily arbs. Daily report on arbitrage signals across major trading regions, covering spot and forward prices, freight rates, time spreads, benchmark arbs, and cumulative fixture counts
Discover the leading solution for global commodity tracking
A solution for every market
With thousands of users across the globe, Kpler enables customers to find signal in the noise and position themselves for success.
