Methodology for Platts Jet Fuel price index

Platts Jet Fuel Price Index is calculated by Platts using that organization’s proprietary daily assessments for Jet Fuel spot prices in the relevant regional centers. When a market is not assessed on a particular day, for instance because of a market holiday, the previous working day’s spot assessment is used. Each of the individual Platts assessments is given a weighting by Platts in the regional baskets, based primarily on uplift data and trading volume; in a similar way, each of the regional indices is given a weighting in the Global Composite Index (speci􀆮ed in the column “Share in Composite Index”). These values are compared with the average spot prices in 2000, similarily weighted by uplift during that period, to generate a percentage figure reflecting the overall rise in markets compared to the base period. As an example, an index value of 200 reflects a doubling of price since the year 2000. Please note that all aspects of the Jet Fuel Price Index methodology and data, including the underlying data, are the intellectual property of Platts, a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies.

Civil Jet Fuels Aviation turbine fuels are used for powering jet and turbo-prop engined aircraft and are not to be confused with Avgas. Outside former communist areas, there are currently two main grades of turbine fuel in use in civil commercial aviation: Jet A-1 and Jet A, both are kerosine type fuels. There is another grade of jet fuel, Jet B which is a wide cut kerosine (a blend of gasoline and kerosine) but it is rarely used except in very cold climates.

Jet A-1 is a kerosine grade of fuel suitable for most turbine engined aircraft. It is produced to a stringent internationally agreed standard, has a flash point above 38°C (100°F) and a freeze point maximum of -47°C. It is widely available outside the U.S.A. Jet A-1 meets the requirements of British specification DEF STAN 91–91 (Jet A-1), (formerly DERD 2494 (AVTUR)), ASTM specification D1655 (Jet A-1) and IATA Guidance Material (Kerosine Type), NATO Code F-35.

Jet A is a similar kerosine type of fuel, produced to an ASTM specification and normally only available in the U.S.A. It has the same flash point as Jet A-1 but a higher freeze point maximum (-40°C). It is supplied against the ASTM D1655 (Jet A) specification.

Jet B is a distillate covering the naphtha and kerosine fractions. It can be used as an alternative to Jet A-1 but because it is more difficult to handle (higher flammability), there is only significant demand in very cold climates where its better cold weather performance is important. In Canada it is supplied against the Canadian Specification CAN/CGSB 3.23.

Jet-4 is the military equivalent of Jet B with the addition of corrosion inhibitor and anti-icing additives; it meets the requirements of the U.S. Military Specification MIL-PRF-5624S Grade JP-4. JP-4 also meets the requirements of the British Specification DEF STAN 91–88 AVTAG/FSII (formerly DERD 2454),where FSII stands for Fuel Systems Icing Inhibitor. NATO Code F-40.

Jet-5 is a high flash point kerosine meeting the requirements of the U.S. Military Specification MIL-PRF-5624S Grade JP-5. JP-5 also meets the requirements of the British Specification DEF STAN 91–86 AVCAT/FSII (formerly DERD 2452). NATO Code F-44.

Jet-8 is the military equivalent of Jet A-1 with the addition of corrosion inhibitor and anti-icing additives; it meets the requirements of the U.S. Military Specification MIL-T-83188D. JP-8 also meets the requirements of the British Specification DEF STAN 91–87 AVTUR/FSII (formerly DERD 2453). NATO Code F-34.

JP54 is an abbreviation for “Jet Propulsion, A1, Colonial Grade 54″ During the refining process only 15% of the crude oil is made up of JP54 the rest of the grade is used for different types of plastic. Developed by JP Morgan, Colonial grade JP54 was replaced by AVGAS also known as AVGAS100LL, it’s the number one low sulphur content kerosene used worldwide. It’s gasoline! JP54 powers gas turbine aircraft engines. Jet A and A-1 have specifications that can be used in fuel worldwide. Jet B is used in cold weather elements. Commonly a number of different mixtures make up jet fuel and this relates to flash points and how the carbon numbers are distributed. Actually most jet fuel exported from Russia etc. is “JP54” or “Colonial JP54”. It is similar to “Jet A” except the the Specific Energy is 18.4 mj/kg compared to that of 42.8 mj/kg of “Jet A”.

Also there is a slight difference in additives. The jet fuels come in a number of flavors. There is a 100+ page handbook needed to specify them all. However, all the jet fuels relate to additives to A1, which allows the plane not to leave a white tail in the sky showing where a plane has been. Jet fuel is kerosene, and not a distillate like Gasoil/ Diesel. In the refinery, it separates above gasolines and parafins. So, no airline will ever purchase “JP54”, there is no trading desk that will trade JP54 and you will find no oil company that sells “JP54”. They will sell Aviation fuel A1 enhanced to a variety of specifications, most usual, the Colonial Grade 54. There is no ticker on the commodity exchanges for “JP54” to allow you to see the market value of the product. There is no special temperature considerations to consider. Remember that at 40,000 feet it is -46 Centigrade more or less regardless of where you are and the season. The only problem related to temperature is when you fill in a wet, hot climate, the air you take along in the same tanks contains a lot of water that condenses and forms spiking ice crystals that will destroy the jet turbine. The airlines will fix this with additives, usually fatty acids. Military grade jet fuel is produced by the refineries and delivered directly since they will require special additives. Jet fuels have a typical boiling range of 150-270°C, (which is somewhere between the boiling ranges of the gasoline and diesel we use in our road vehicles), and typically account for around 10-15% of total refinery production (3000 tonnes per day for a medium to large refinery!)