Source: https://mochatrade.com/learn/glossary/crack-spread

# Crack spread
URL: https://mochatrade.com/learn/glossary/crack-spread
Last modified: 2026-10-17

The crack spread is the gap between the price of crude and the products refined from it, petrol and diesel. A refiner earns that gap, not the oil price, so when it widens a refiner can hit a multi-year high in the same week an airline [takes a $6 billion fuel hit](https://mochatrade.com/blog/crude-oil-war-and-slippery-slopes). One oil price, [lows and highs across the S&P 500](https://mochatrade.com/blog/mocha-markets-weekly-28f).

## Related terms

- S&P 500: https://mochatrade.com/learn/glossary/sp-500
- Crude oil (WTI vs Brent): https://mochatrade.com/learn/glossary/crude-oil
- Oil risk premium: https://mochatrade.com/learn/glossary/oil-risk-premium
- EIA petroleum status report: https://mochatrade.com/learn/glossary/eia-petroleum-status-report
- Strait of Hormuz: https://mochatrade.com/learn/glossary/strait-of-hormuz
- 52-week high and low: https://mochatrade.com/learn/glossary/52-week-high-and-low

Educational content only. Not investment advice. Leveraged products magnify losses as well as gains.