By Seher Dareen
LONDON, April 15 (Reuters) – Europe was seeing record inflows of jet fuel from the United States, data from Kpler and LSEG showed, as the region attempts to shore up fuel supplies to make up for the disruption of imports from the Middle East.
The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has blocked flows from the Middle East, on which Europe depends on for nearly 75% of its jet fuel imports, or around 375,000 barrels per day. This has led European airlines to urge the European Union to step in with emergency measures, including widespread airspace closures, as per a document seen by Reuters.
Inflows from the U.S. are due to reach between 149,000 to 200,000 barrels per day so far in April, based on vessels discharged and those still due to, which is already at record highs per data going as far back as 2015 on LSEG and 2017 on Kpler.
Despite the requirement in the EU countries to maintain 90 days of emergency oil reserves, this doesn’t stipulate how much of it should be a specific fuel. Per the International Energy Agency, Spain is a net exporter of jet fuel, while Britain, which is also the region’s largest consumer, imports 65% of its demand. Stocks of jet fuel held independently in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp refining and storage hub stood at their lowest since March 2023 last week. [ARA/]
The U.S. is, however, already exporting at record highs – in the week ending April 3, the country exported an estimated 442,000 barrels of jet fuel in total, double the 219,000 barrels averaged last year per data from the Energy Information Administration.
While the U.S. is the top consumer of jet fuel globally, exports to regions with a worse fuel crunch like Europe and Asia were fetching better prices.
The IEA also added in its monthly report that if European markets are unable to secure more than 50% of volumes lost from the Middle East, then stocks would hit the crucial 23-day stockpile level in June – the level at which physical shortages would begin.
(Reporting by Seher Dareen in London; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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