New York Harbor jet fuel differential, outright price reach record highs

The differential for jet fuel in New York Harbor nearly doubled overnight April 1, setting new records for both the outright price and the NYMEX differential for that Platts benchmark as market players searched for available barrels.

S&P Global Commodity Insights assessed the Platts benchmark Buckeye Pipeline jet at $6.434/gal, up $1.4731/gal day on day and a record high for that product.

The assessed differential to NYMEX May ULSD futures was plus $3.01/gal, also a record and nearly double the March 31 close of NYMEX plus $1.60/gal.

Supply has been essentially non-existent for the past week or so, according to sources. The New York Harbor region has been starving for jet fuel, finding no barrels coming up Colonial Pipeline from Houston.

"I can't see much of anything coming until cycle 18, maybe cycle 17, if we are lucky," one trader said. "So that's like April 17 or so—if we are lucky."

There have been no import barrels recently, either. The last delivery of jet fuel into New York Harbor was March 12, and the last jet fuel import into any Atlantic Coast area was March 24, when Irving Oil brought 25,000 barrels into Boston, according to S&P Global and US Customs data.