Jet fuel prices surge as Iran war disrupts Middle East exports

Jet fuel prices are soaring around the world as oil traders grapple with the fallout of the Iran war, adding to wider concerns about global inflation.

In Europe, they’ve spiked to the highest since 2022 — the year that Russia began its invasion of Ukraine — while prices in the US and Asia hit a more than two-year high, according to figures from General Index. Costs are rallying faster than crude oil, which has risen as the Middle East conflict destabilizes energy output and disrupts a crucial shipping route in the region.

“The last 24 hours have seen stratospheric moves in global jet pricing,” said James Noel-Beswick, head of commodities at Sparta. “Carriers face both longer routes and tightening global supply.”

The European Union’s aviation fuel market is particularly at risk from Middle Eastern oil export disruption caused by the war. Half of the bloc’s jet fuel imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, compared with only about 12% for diesel, Eugene Lindell, head of refined products at consultancy FGE NexantECA, said on a webinar on Wednesday.

Energy and commodity markets have been shaken since the conflict began at the weekend. Prices of gas, diesel and even aluminum have also climbed, in addition to soaring freight costs, which threaten to filter through to prices consumers pay.

“It now looks increasingly likely that we’ll see significant run cuts in Asia, which will cut supplies of jet,” Lindell said. Indian refiner Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. has told customers it will suspend oil-product exports, with the conflict disrupting crude shipments from the Persian Gulf.

President Donald Trump has said the US will ensure the free flow of energy through the Persian Gulf with insurance guarantees and even naval escorts. But the shipping industry sees it — at best — as only a partial solution. Meanwhile, sharply rising prices of jet fuel and other commodities are unlikely to sit well with the US leader’s “pro-growth, anti-inflation agenda.”

Jet fuel’s massive rally is showing up in other key market metrics. In northwest Europe, the fuel’s premium to crude oil hit a record high of more than $70 a barrel in data going back to 2008, according to General Index figures. In Asia, the differential between jet and diesel-type fuels — often called the regrade — reached its widest since 2023.

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