The guidance later this week will clarify if aeroplanes can carry more fuel on board and whether imports of US “Jet A” fuel could be permitted to ease supply pressures.
Wester van Gaal
The EU is to set out whether to allow the use of US-standard jet fuel and relax so-called ‘anti-tankering’ rules as it scrambles to respond to looming shortages.
Jet fuel is trading above $1,500 [€1,282] per tonne in Europe, up from $830 per tonne before the Iran war.
The guidance, due to follow after a Thursday (7 May) meeting of the EU’s weekly oil coordination group, will clarify if aeroplanes can carry more fuel on board and whether imports of US “Jet A” fuel could be permitted to ease supply pressures.
Anti-tankering rules, introduced under ReFuelEU last year, require airlines to refuel at EU airports rather than carry excess cheaper fuel from elsewhere.
Suspending these rules could lower prices for airlines, but carrying more fuel on board also raises emissions and bypasses EU fuel markets, costing airports money.
The EU Commission and member states will also weigh the use of US jet fuel, which differs slightly from the standard jet A-1 used in Europe and elsewhere, notably in having a higher freezing point that can limit its use on long-haul routes.
Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen told press on Monday (4 May) that Brussels has a “full overview” of the strategic fuel stocks of its member states but said she would not disclose company-level data, citing confidentiality.
“Airline operators do share information with the commission, but are not obliged to do so,” she added.
Sounding less sanguine, International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol said last month that the EU had only six weeks of jet fuel left.
