Road fuels
Overview
Fuels for road transportation continue to drive the refining industry. But gasoline and diesel use is coming under increasing pressure from the introduction of low-carbon targets around the world.
Global oversupply, new regulatory measures and rapidly increasing competition for export markets are affecting refining margins. The need for accurate insight and data is more critical than ever.
Argus road fuels coverage includes price assessments and key insights into conventional fuels — gasoline, middle distillates and blending components — as well as biofuels, in each key region. Our trusted prices are delivered alongside the latest market-moving news, in-depth analysis, supply and demand dynamics, price forecasts and forward curves data.
Latest road fuels news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global road fuels industry.
Australia's EV sales top gasoline cars for first time
Australia's EV sales top gasoline cars for first time
Sydney, 4 September (Argus) — Record electric vehicle (EV) sales in Australia are expected to weigh on long-term gasoline demand growth after battery-powered vehicles outsold gasoline-powered cars on a monthly basis for the first time in August. Battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales reached a record 27,089 units in August, up by 171pc from the same month in 2025 and accounting for just under a quarter of total new vehicle sales, according from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI). There were 25,824 gasoline-powered cars sold and 23,608 of diesel-powered cars sold. The milestone reflects a structural shift in Australia's passenger vehicle market and points to a gradual reduction in future gasoline consumption, particularly in major urban centres where EV adoption rates are highest. Total new vehicle sales rose by 0.4pc on the year to 100,939 units in August, according to the FCAI. Year-to-date sales totalled 811,388 units, broadly unchanged from the same period last year. BEVs surpassed gasoline-only vehicle sales, but internal combustion engine and hybrid vehicles continued to dominate the broader market. Plug-in hybrid vehicles accounted for 10.5pc of August sales and conventional hybrid vehicles represented 18.5pc, indicating that more than half of new vehicle purchases incorporated some form of electrification. The growing uptake of EVs is likely to have a more pronounced effect on gasoline demand than diesel consumption because passenger vehicles account for a significant share of Australia's gasoline use. Diesel demand is more heavily linked to freight, mining, agriculture and industrial activity, sectors where electrification remains at an earlier stage. The immediate impact on fuel demand is expected to be limited because EVs still represent a relatively small share of Australia's total vehicle fleet. But continued penetration of EVs into new vehicle sales could increasingly influence long-term forecasts for domestic gasoline consumption and import requirements. By Tom Woodlock Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US Gulf-east coast gasoline shipments gain in August
US Gulf-east coast gasoline shipments gain in August
Houston, 3 September (Argus) — US Gulf coast waterborne gasoline shipments to the US east coast rose to 13-month highs in August because of ongoing gasoline shortages in the southeast US. The Gulf coast shipped 228,000 b/d to the US east coast in August, the highest since July 2025, when shipments reached 235,000 b/d to the Atlantic coast, according to Vortexa ship-tracking data. Demand for Gulf coast gasoline has risen since the beginning of the US-Iran war in late February. Most of the latest shipments reached the southeast US, with roughly 82pc, or 187,000 b/d headed to ports in Florida. This was up by 36pc compared with the same month last year, when 137,000 b/d of Gulf coast gasoline cargoes landed in Florida. Southeast states depend heavily on the Colonial Pipeline system for refined product supply produced mostly in Texas and Louisiana. But Florida, which constitutes the third-largest US fuel market, is largely reliant on waterborne deliveries. In 2026 so far, 88.4pc of domestic waterborne gasoline shipments from the Gulf coast moved through ports in Florida, with 68.2pc of those cargoes accepted in Port Everglades. A looming gasoline shortage along the US Atlantic coast has supported demand for Gulf coast waterborne shipments, with space on Colonial fully allocated and unable to move additional capacity Line 1 space prices — the price to access Colonial's gasoline-carrying Line 1 — averaged +0.54¢/USG in August, up from an average of -0.02¢/USG in August 2025. Line 1 starts in Pasadena, Texas, and connects to Line 3 for access to the New York Harbor in Greensboro, North Carolina, though stronger fuel demand in the southeast US has led to more volume taken off the line at or before Greensboro junction. The central Atlantic coast gasoline market, which includes the New York Harbor and Philadelphia, has faced supply pressures from dwindling regional production and a drop in imports , leaving a stronger arbitrage transporting gasoline into the central Atlantic region via Colonial. The lower Atlantic region, including Florida, saw gasoline inventories fall by 9pc in the week ended 28 August from a year earlier, based on the latest EIA data. The decline increased demand for barrels, but a 90-day extension of the US Jones Act waiver for fuel deliveries on 10 August provided relief. The waiver, enacted in late March in response to oil market disruptions caused by the Mideast Gulf war, allows foreign-flagged ships to carry fuel supplies between US ports, expanding available tonnage moving between the Gulf and east coasts. By Hannah Borai Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
NW Europe gasoline differentials hit record highs
NW Europe gasoline differentials hit record highs
London, 3 September (Argus) — Tight supply in northwest Europe has sent physical gasoline premiums and backwardation sharply higher this week. Eurobob gasoline barge differentials against the front-month Eurobob oxy swap reached record highs for both grades at the 2 September close, based on Argus data going back to February 2021. Oxy barges were assessed at a $289/t premium to the swap and non-oxy barges at a $261/t premium. Physical differentials rose alongside record backwardation between the September and October Eurobob oxy swaps. September closed at a $168/t premium to October on 2 September, compared with a typical seasonal premium of $20-30/t ahead of the switch from summer-grade to winter-grade gasoline. The record premiums partly reflect a shortage of available gasoline, with inventories in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub at their lowest in almost five years. Independently-held stocks at ARA fell to 752,000t last week, 32pc below their five-year average and their lowest since 14 October 2021. Traders attributed the stockdraw partly to rising gasoline demand in several of Europe's largest consuming markets and firm buying interest from the Mediterranean. Several cargoes have loaded for Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and Syria, relatively unusual destinations for northwest European gasoline. But demand from northwest Europe's traditional long-haul export markets remains weak, partly offsetting this support. Preliminary Kpler data indicate that exports to the US fell to around 118,000 b/d in August from 230,000 b/d in July. Refiners also reported waning blending interest as the summer driving season passed its peak. Low Rhine water levels have added to supply pressure across northwest Europe, particularly in western Germany and Switzerland, by severely constraining barge movements. They have also restricted deliveries of blending components from the lower Rhine into ARA, making it harder to replenish depleted gasoline inventories. Rainfall over the past two weeks has allowed inland deliveries from ARA into Germany to pick up. But market participants said blending component flows from the lower Rhine into ARA have yet to recover, while water levels are forecast to fall again in the coming days. The supply tightness has also pushed northwest European gasoline cracks sharply higher. The benchmark non-oxy gasoline barge crack settled at $57.75/bl against Ice Brent crude futures on 2 September, its highest since June 2022 and the third highest in Argus records. Fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) margins have risen alongside gasoline cracks, supported by exceptionally strong diesel cracks and falling feedstock costs. The margin for an average northwest European FCC, based on a 70:30 gasoline-to-diesel yield and low-sulphur vacuum gasoil feedstock, reached a record $43.85/bl. But gasoline cracks remain well below those for diesel, limiting refiners' incentive to increase gasoline output despite the shortage. ARA diesel cargoes settled at a record $99.66/bl premium to benchmark North Sea Dated crude on 1 September, up by almost 19pc from the previous assessment. High northwest European gasoline prices are also constraining exports. One trader said sellers holding blending-component stocks may still profit from exports to the Mediterranean, but arbitrage opportunities to the US and west Africa appear firmly closed. By Atishya Nayak Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
USWC diesel squeeze persists as stocks hit 14-year low
USWC diesel squeeze persists as stocks hit 14-year low
Seattle, 2 September (Argus) — US west coast (USWC) ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) inventories ended August beyond a 14-year low, one component of regional overall diesel supply tightness that has contributed to record-high spot prices in California ahead of the fall harvest. ULSD stocks along the USWC contracted by 8.2pc from week-to-week to just 9.03mn bl by 28 August, the lowest level since June 2012, according to the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. Historically tight diesel availability has already boosted outright prices in Los Angeles this week to record highs, per Argus' series histories for both export-grade EPA and in-state CARB ULSD. Cash prices for both grades reached $4.18/USG for prompt-month spot volume by Tuesday afternoon. But ULSD makes up just one half of California's diesel market, in which renewable diesel (most often R99) — also tight this season — commands the majority market share. Under typical market conditions, scarcer R99 availability would be expected to translate into higher CARB diesel demand. But refinery closures in the past year have systemically whittled away at California's crude processing capacity and left minimal slack in the supply chain for buyers, who might otherwise toggle between renewable and conventional grades. The closures of Phillips 66's 139,000 b/d Los Angeles refining complex in late 2025, followed by the indefinite idling earlier this year of Valero's 145,000 b/d Benicia, California, refinery, cost California alone an estimated 17pc of its total refining capacity. That lost capacity now serves to amplify the impact of short-term production upsets in the state, of which at least two are occurring during what market participants say is peak buying time ahead of harvest in California. Marathon Petroleum reported start-up/shutdown operations on 1 September at its 365,000 b/d Los Angeles refinery in Carson, California, that are expected to last until 15 September. PBF Energy began maintenance at its Martinez, northern California, refinery in late August, and is expected to continue that work into October, per a 17 August announcement. On the biofuels side, a turnaround at a Bay Area bio-refinery severely curtailed renewable diesel output and is widely believed to have been joined by an interruption from a second nearby bio-refiner, which emerged uncharacteristically as an R99 buyer in both Los Angeles and San Francisco last month. R99 values for spot pipeline volume in both locations also logged record highs on Tuesday, per Argus price history dating back to September 2023. Los Angeles head-of-pipeline (hop) R99 reached $5.57/USG and San Francisco rose to $5.62/USG. Altogether, the production declines — both permanent and temporary — have left buyers in the state concerned about their ability to meet anticipated overall fall diesel needs. By Jasmine Davis Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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