What's the difference between Blender, ARA and NWE Refinery Margin?

These different margins are used to show that ARBs are not simply open or closed.

The Blender Mrg is for a blender operating in ARA who needs to purchase all their components from the market, these will be the most expensive blenders.

The ARA Ref Mrg represents an ARA refinery, these sit in the middle in terms of economics, they will save in barge freight vs a Blender and have a ‘push’ to sell opposed to a Blender requiring a ‘pull’.

The cheapest is the NWE Ref Mrg, this represents a coastal refinery in NWE, their alternative to a large cargo export is to export their components to ARA on small vessels, this means they should be willing to blend the cheapest of all three.