Refiners Hold Off Buying Oil as Prices Surge After Supply Hit

Refiners are beginning to balk at eye-watering premiums on available oil barrels, threatening to slow down the flow of the world’s most traded commodity as the war in the Middle East upends energy markets.

Markups of as much as $40 a barrel above benchmarks in the Middle East, $13 in Brazil and $10 in Azerbaijan — on top of sky-high freight rates — are leading refineries to hold off purchases at a time when many are cutting crude processing and fuel prices are surging. The soaring premiums and hesitation to close deals were related by several traders with direct knowledge of supply talks.