Jet fuel
Overview
Jet fuel market volatility, whether from crude prices, supply issues from refining capacity, or ongoing regulation changes, is a continual risk to your bottom line.
Having a choice in fuel pricing is the best way to mitigate risk and stay on top of market changes. Argus constructs price indexation in a way that is appropriate for each market. By doing so, market participants can align their day-to-day operations, improve management of fuel costs and directly impact their net earnings.
Jet fuel makes up more than 40% of an airline’s total operating expense. The rise in importance of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from government mandates and self-regulations from airlines has a direct implication on these operating costs.
Argus helps the jet fuel market participants to make informed decisions and optimize their strategies with price assessments and information on deals done for conventional jet fuel and SAF, as well as the latest market-moving news, in-depth analysis, supply and demand dynamics, and price forecasts.
Latest jet fuel news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global jet fuel industry.
New Zealand's Auckland airport delays new runway plans
New Zealand's Auckland airport delays new runway plans
Sydney, 30 April (Argus) — New Zealand's Auckland airport, the country's largest, will delay plans for a second runway for at least 10 years because of operational and efficiency measures, it said on 29 April. Its plans to build a second runway by 2028 would be delayed by a decade, but operational innovation could extend that timeline further. The airport's master plan anticipates 38mn passengers/yr will transit through Auckland by 2047, up from 18.6mn in the 2024 fiscal year to 30 June, with air cargo growing by 40pc to 223,000 t/yr by 2047. The airport has yet to reach pre-Covid-19 passenger numbers and its main user, state-controlled carrier Air New Zealand, has reported ongoing problems with aircraft availability , which has slashed its available seat kilometres — a metric used to calculate capacity — in January-June. Auckland's passenger numbers for the first three months of 2025 dipped by 1pc on the year and on the quarter (see table) with domestic travel plummeting while international transits increased slightly on the quarter. Auckland's available seats to the US dropped by 18pc during March because of cancelled services, the airport said. New Zealand's jet fuel imports totalled 26,000 b/d in the January-March quarter, data from analytics firm Kpler show. Official data for October-December 2024 show 34,000 b/d of imports, up by 17pc on the quarter. The New Zealand government is exploring options for increasing fuel security, including developing biofuels, in the wake of twin reports into the nation's situation released in February. By Tom Major Auckland Airport passenger traffic (mn) Jan-Mar '25 Oct-Dec '24 Jan-Mar '24 q-o-q % ± y-o-y % ± Total 4.93 4.99 5 -1 -1 International 2.79 2.75 2.79 1 0 Domestic 1.86 2.24 2.21 -17 -16 Source - Auckland Airport Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
DG Fuels eyes larger, later Louisiana SAF plant
DG Fuels eyes larger, later Louisiana SAF plant
New York, 29 April (Argus) — US renewable fuels company DG Fuels intends to produce more sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) than it initially planned at its flagship Louisiana project, albeit on a later timeline. DG Fuels president Christopher Chaput told Argus that the company is working to reach a final investment decision on its Louisiana facility by the first quarter of next year and is on track to start delivering "meaningful" amounts of SAF from the site in 2030, later than initially expected. The company continues to look at other potential facilities across the country but is prioritizing its Louisiana plant, which will use the Fischer-Tropsch chemical process to gasify agricultural waste into low-carbon fuels. "Not exclusively, but we are focusing really, really, really hard on the first project, which is Louisiana," Chaput said. Potential sites in Nebraska and Minnesota are the next-furthest along, and the company still owns land in Maine where it could build a similar SAF plant. The facilities would use similar technology but draw from different feedstocks, such as local forest or agricultural waste, and different types of hydrogen. The plan in Louisiana is to produce blue hydrogen, which involves capturing carbon emissions and is eligible for a federal tax credit. That Louisiana facility has also expanded in size, and Chaput says it could ultimately produce 195-200mn USG/yr of fuel — up from estimates last year and an initial projection of 120mn USG/yr. Chaput says the plant's size — which would give it the highest capacity of all Fischer-Tropsch SAF plants planned globally according to Argus estimates — will be an advantage for ultimately producing a cost-competitive fuel. Other potential DG Fuels facilities would be similarly large, a different approach from some other US developers like Aether Fuels, Natural State Renewables and now-defunct Fulcrum Bioenergy that have eyed a similar production process on smaller sites. Some biofuel producers already operational today use a separate process to produce SAF, hydroprocessing vegetable oils and animal fats, and have higher production capacities. But that pathway could ultimately be limited by feedstock constraints and competition from renewable diesel, analysts say, which has spurred investors and airlines to look at other potential pathways. While plants eyeing production in the 2030s might be less exposed to immediate policy risks, biofuel producers in the US have struggled to start 2025 as margins crash from the halting rollout of a new federal tax credit and delayed blend mandates. President Donald Trump's aggressive efforts to curb renewables have scared climate tech start-ups, though Trump has also voiced general support for some other clean energy sources, including biofuels. A government loan to support US refiner Calumet's efforts to produce more SAF was briefly halted this year and then [unpaused]( https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2656961) after a Republican US senator intervened. And policies abroad — including increasingly stringent SAF mandates in the EU and UK — could ultimately support clean fuel developers in the US even if incentives shift stateside. By Cole Martin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
European aviation emissions to surpass pre-Covid levels
European aviation emissions to surpass pre-Covid levels
London, 29 April (Argus) — Carbon emissions from the European aviation industry are on course to surpass 2019 levels this year, according to a new study by clean energy lobby group Transport & Environment (T&E). Flights departing from European airports — in the EU, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and the UK — emitted around 187.6mn t of CO2 in 2024, 8pc higher than in 2023 and just 2pc short of 2019, the year before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the study said. Meanwhile, 8.4mn flights departed from airports in Europe last year, which was 4pc lower than in 2019. T&E forecasts that aviation emissions will rise to 195.2mn t this year, 4pc higher than 2019 levels, even after taking into account a 2pc mandate on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) use. European flight numbers are expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels for the first time this year. Long-haul flights emitted the most CO2 last year, with London to New York flights accounting for 1.4mn t, London to Dubai 1.2mn t and London to Singapore 1.1mn t. T&E criticised carbon pricing in Europe, pointing out that airlines do not have to pay for carbon emissions on intercontinental flights, according to EU, Swiss and UK Emissions Trading Systems (ETS), as their carbon allowances only apply to flights within Europe. This means that airlines operating within these carbon markets do not have to pay for emissions on the biggest-polluting routes. The group claims that up to 70pc of carbon emissions fell outside of these carbon markets last year and were therefore exempt. T&E is pushing the EU and UK to expand their ETS, saying they could have generated an extra €7.5bn in 2024. The EU will review its ETS next year. By Amaar Khan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Power outage hits Spanish refineries: Update 2
Power outage hits Spanish refineries: Update 2
Adds details on flight cancellations London, 28 April (Argus) — A massive power cut across the Iberian peninsula has disrupted operations at several refineries, chemical plants and airports in Spain and Portugal today. All five of Repsol's Spanish refineries have been forced to shut, a union representative for the company's workers said. This includes the 220,000 b/d Bilbao refinery, which is operated by Repsol's Petronor subsidiary. Crews are in place, securing units at the refineries. "There is sufficient autonomy in all of them to guarantee the safety of the facilities," the union representative said. Repsol has yet to respond to a request for comment. Fellow Spanish refiner Moeve said it also has halted activity at its refining and chemical plants in the country and is using back-up power generators "to guarantee the safety and control of the system". Moeve operates the 244,000 b/d Algeciras and 220,000 b/d Huelva refineries. Its 250,000 t/yr San Roque base oils plant is also shutting down. Chemicals firm Dow said all plants at its Tarragona industrial complex in Spain have been closed. The longer the power outage lasts, the longer it will take to restart integrated sites. Refineries affected by power outages normally require a 2- to 3-day restart period. It is unclear yet whether any plants have sustained damage. Airports in both countries have also been affected, with 29pc of flights cancelled at Lisbon, according to data from analytics firm Cirium. A total of 96 flights from Portuguese airports have been cancelled today, according to Cirium, while 45 have been cancelled in Spain. Spanish transmission system operator Red Electrica and relevant government bodies are investigating the cause of the blackout. Red Electrica said power has been restored "at substations in several areas in the north, south and west of the peninsula, and consumers in these areas are beginning to be supplied". By George Maher-Bonnett, Isabella Reimi, Alex Sands and Monicca Egoy Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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