FT: UK becomes largest importer of US aviation fuel

Britain has emerged as the top global destination for US jet fuel exports as airlines move to fill the gap caused by reduced deliveries from the Gulf since the onset of the conflict in Iran, the Financial Times reports.

According to figures from the London Stock Exchange Group, a quarter of US jet fuel exports last month were sent to the UK. Meanwhile, US-origin fuel is projected to account for half of the UK’s imports in the first half of April, compared with an average of just 7 per cent in 2025, according to analytics group Vortexa.

The shift toward US supplies represents a departure from the UK’s “historical strong reliance on jet fuel imports from the Middle East,” said Mick Strautmann of Vortexa.

Almost 500,000 tonnes were exported from the US in March, double the 240,000 tonnes recorded in February, LSEG data shows. The UK was the largest single destination, receiving three shipments totalling around 115,000 tonnes, including two exported by BP.

For April, of the 218,000 tonnes the UK is expected to import—a much lower level than usual due to reduced Gulf shipments—151,000 tonnes are anticipated to come from the US, more than twice the average of the past 10 months, according to analytics firm Kpler.

The UK government said there was “no current disruption to jet fuel supply and shipments are continuing to arrive into the UK, with imports from a range of countries.” 

LSEG added that it remained difficult to determine the amount of fuel held in reserves by individual countries. “Jet fuel price benchmarks globally have surged since the outbreak of the war,” it said.

The UK’s growing reliance on US fuel marks a structural change from previous patterns. In 2025, the US exported roughly 10 million tonnes of jet fuel, about 500,000 tonnes of which went to the UK, while a significantly larger share was sent to Central and South America, according to the Energy Information Administration.

By Jeyhun Aghazada