What is jet fuel? It is a kerosene-based middle distillate refined to a strict international performance specification rather than a single fixed chemical formula, and global consumption is forecast to exceed 5.5 million barrels a day in 2026 according to IATA traffic and fuel-burn data. For terminal operators and procurement teams, that volume makes jet fuel one of the highest-value products moving through downstream storage and pipeline networks.
What Is Jet Fuel?
The question of what is jet fuel comes down to performance, not composition. Refiners blend a mixture of hydrocarbons with a carbon number distribution roughly between 8 and 16 atoms per molecule, and the exact ratio varies by crude source and refining process. What matters commercially is that the finished product meets fixed thresholds: a minimum flash point of 38°C, a maximum freeze point of -47°C for Jet A-1 or -40°C for Jet A, and a density between 0.804 and 0.840 kg/L.
Because jet fuel is defined by performance rather than chemistry, two batches drawn from different crude sources can carry the same specification despite different hydrocarbon makeups. This is why refiners can shift feedstock without changing the certified grade, provided the finished product still clears the flash point, freeze point and distillation tests set out in ASTM D1655 and UK Defence Standard 91-91.
Jet A-1 is the global commercial standard outside the United States, carrying a mandatory antistatic additive and a freeze point of -47°C. Jet A is the US-specific grade, identical in most respects but with a higher freeze point of -40°C, which limits its use largely to domestic American and a handful of Canadian airports. Jet B, a 30:70 kerosene-gasoline blend known as wide-cut fuel, is reserved for extreme cold-weather operations in northern Canada and Alaska, where its -60°C freeze point outweighs the handling risk of a lower flash point.
Military grades extend the same logic further. JP-8, the NATO-standard fuel since 1978, is close to Jet A-1 with added corrosion inhibitors and is used as a single battlefield fuel across both aircraft and diesel ground vehicles. JP-5 carries a higher flash point of at least 60°C for use aboard aircraft carriers, where fire risk in a confined hull is the dominant design constraint.
What Is Jet Fuel Used For and How Is It Priced?
Jet fuel powers gas-turbine aircraft engines across commercial, cargo and military aviation, and it is also used in some diesel-powered ground-support vehicles at airports where operators want to limit the number of fuel types stored on site. Pricing is benchmarked against regional crude and middle-distillate markers, typically quoted as a differential to Brent or WTI, with EIA and Argus Media publishing daily reference prices for US Gulf Coast, Northwest Europe and Singapore cargoes.
Refinery yield is the other side of the pricing equation. Jet fuel competes with diesel and gasoline for the same middle-distillate barrel, so a tightening diesel market typically pulls jet fuel pricing higher in step, and refiners adjust their distillate split between the three products depending on relative margins. OGSN tracks this relationship on its diesel price page, which moves on largely the same refinery economics.
Additives play a smaller but commercially relevant role in cost. Refiners blend in fuel system icing inhibitors to stop trace water from freezing in fuel lines at altitude, antioxidants to prevent gum formation in long-term storage, and biocides to control microbial growth in tanks. None of these is expensive individually, but together they explain part of the price gap between jet fuel and untreated diesel.
Where Is Jet Fuel Produced and Stored?
Production is concentrated at large coastal and inland refineries with direct pipeline or barge access to airport fuel systems. In the United States, the Colonial Pipeline and Buckeye system move jet fuel from Gulf Coast refineries to East Coast airport terminals, while European supply runs through Rotterdam-Antwerp-Amsterdam refining and storage hubs into inland pipeline networks serving major hubs including Frankfurt and Schiphol.
Storage tanks holding jet fuel require tighter water-contamination controls than diesel or gasoline tanks, since dissolved water that precipitates out of the fuel at altitude can supercool and freeze, blocking fuel inlet pipes in flight. Terminal operators run filtration, water-detection and biocide dosing on a stricter schedule than for road fuels, and the industry standard chemical test uses a water-sensitive filter pad that flags free water above 30 parts per million.
Tank lease economics for aviation fuel reflect that added handling cost. Operators typically charge a premium over standard distillate storage rates to cover the additional filtration infrastructure, more frequent testing, and the liability profile of a product feeding directly into commercial aircraft. OGSN’s tank terminal lease rates guide covers how these handling premiums factor into commercial storage contracts.
Jet Fuel Price and Market Outlook
Jet fuel demand has not fully decoupled from broader middle-distillate supply, which means storage and terminal capacity along key aviation corridors remains a structural constraint rather than a purely cyclical one. Airlines and fuel resellers increasingly hedge against this tightness through term contracts tied to published benchmark prices rather than relying on spot purchases.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel is starting to change the supply picture at the margins. SAF can currently be blended up to 50% with conventional jet fuel without aircraft modification, and as production scales, terminals handling SAF blends will need separate segregation and certification processes from straight kerosene-based jet fuel, adding a further storage variable for operators to plan around.
For procurement teams asking what is jet fuel trading at today, OGSN’s jet fuel price page tracks the live US, European and Asian benchmarks daily, alongside the unit conversions procurement teams need for contract comparison.
What is jet fuel and why does it matter?
Jet fuel is a kerosene-based middle distillate refined to a strict performance specification for gas-turbine aircraft engines. It matters commercially because it is one of the highest-value products a refinery yields and a major driver of downstream storage and pipeline demand.
How is jet fuel priced or benchmarked?
Jet fuel is priced as a differential to crude benchmarks such as Brent or WTI, with regional reference prices published daily for US Gulf Coast, Northwest Europe and Singapore cargoes by agencies including the EIA and Argus Media.
Where is jet fuel produced and stored?
Production is concentrated at refineries with direct pipeline or barge access to airport fuel systems, such as US Gulf Coast refineries connected via the Colonial Pipeline, and European refining hubs around Rotterdam-Antwerp-Amsterdam.
What is the difference between Jet A, Jet A-1 and Jet B?
Jet A-1 is the global commercial standard with a freeze point of -47°C. Jet A is the US-specific equivalent with a higher freeze point of -40°C. Jet B is a kerosene-gasoline blend used in extreme cold-weather regions such as northern Canada.
Who are the major producers of jet fuel?
Major suppliers include the integrated oil majors (ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, Chevron) alongside state-owned refiners such as Saudi Aramco and Sinopec, and independent distributors including World Fuel Services and Vitol.
Where can I find the current jet fuel price?
OGSN tracks the live jet fuel price across US, European and Asian benchmarks, updated daily on its dedicated jet fuel price page.