GTL Kerosene Is Blended With Standard Jet-A To Create The Blend

Passengers traveling from London's Heathrow Airport this summer could be among the first in Europe to fly on synthetic aviation fuel, after suppliers into the airport took delivery of gas-to-liquids jet fuel from Qatar, according to trading sources and shipping data. Trading house Vitol is understood to have delivered barrels of GTL-blended jet fuel into the U.K. terminal of Fawley this week, a month after it first put a GTL cargo into the ExxonMobil complex.

According to a news release from Platts ... an information provider to the energy, petrochemicals and metals industries, two Europe-based jet traders said they had been tracking the BW Isis, a Long Range 1 tanker chartered by Vitol, since it left Qatar a month ago. They said it loaded GTL jet at the Pearl GTL plant in Ras Laffan, a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum and Shell. The vessel arrived in Fawley on Tuesday, before leaving in the early hours of Thursday morning, Platts vessel tracking tool cFlow shows.

"If it has gone into Exxon, then you would expect it would be used for aviation fuel," said one of the traders.

Fawley is connected to a network of underground oil pipelines which distributes jet fuel to London Heathrow airport, as well as London Gatwick and Birmingham. GTL Jet is a blend of up to 50% gas-to-liquids kerosene and conventional crude oil-derived jet – a combination allowed under the latest issue Defence Standard, the standard for Jet A-1 aviation turbine fuel established by the U.K. Ministry of Defense.

GTL kerosene produced at the Pearl plant is blended with conventional Jet A-1 from the Ras Laffan condensate refinery to make the GTL jet fuel blend, according to Tasweeq, the marketing arm of Qatar Petroleum. The first commercial passenger flight fueled by GTL jet was a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to London Heathrow in January, but the first exports from Pearl did not start flowing until June.

Tasweeq signed its first semi-term contract to sell just under 1 million barrels of GTL jet to Vitol in April. Under the contract, Vitol would take 321,200 barrels (around 40,000 mt) per month between June and August, industry sources said. It was later heard Vitol secured more barrels loading over September-November. Tasweeq recently issued another tender for September-December loadings closing August 20.

Platts reported that ExxonMobil and Vitol Aviation were not immediately available for comment.

(Heathrow airport pictured in file photo)

FMI: www.platts.com