Saturday, 5 September 2026

Refining margins, not crude alone, are pushing retail fuel prices higher, according to CleanTechnica, which attributes higher prices at the pump to elevated crack spreads working alongside crude oil prices.

The crack spread is the margin measure that links the two. CleanTechnica describes crack spreads as indicators of the profitability of refining crude oil into petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel. When that indicator sits at elevated levels, the refining step itself is adding to what drivers pay, separate from the cost of the barrel entering the refinery.

CleanTechnica frames both inputs as contributing factors rather than a single driver, with crude prices and refining profitability each feeding into the retail price.

Approval of the Jackdaw gas project in the UK North Sea appears imminent, according to Offshore magazine, with construction of the field reported at 99% complete.

The decision sits with UK Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh. Adura, the joint venture between Shell and Equinor that operates the field, has said Jackdaw is ready to produce if consent is granted this month.

The field lies roughly 150 miles east of Aberdeen in the Central North Sea. At peak output, Offshore magazine reports, it is projected to supply around 6% of UK continental shelf gas, enough to heat about 1.4 million homes.

Jackdaw has been through the consenting process once already. It was first approved in 2022 under the previous Conservative government, and the Court of Session quashed those consents in 2025 after a legal challenge brought by environmental groups.

The volume argument attached to the project turns on import dependence. Imports currently account for roughly 60% of UK gas, according to Offshore magazine.