Dangote is unlikely to be a regular jet fuel supplier to the US, but a maintenance-related shutdown of the Phillips 66 Bayway refinery in New Jersey helped open a rare arbitrage opportunity for flows from Nigeria to the US, said Sparta Commodities analyst James Noel-Beswick.
The window is likely to close soon or shrink significantly due to elevated US inventories of the aviation fuel, Noel-Beswick said.
Demand to lease storage tanks for jet fuel in Houston and New York harbour next month is averaging about 700,000 barrels on storage broker TankTiger's platform, five to six times the average monthly demand, said TankTiger COO Steven Barsamian.
The surge in demand, partly due to the influx of supply from Nigeria, is likely to lower jet fuel prices in the US ahead of peak summer travel season, Barsamian said.
Despite lower prices, air travel during summer could be dampened by economic headwinds from a stock market sell-off and waning consumer confidence, said Sparta's Noel-Beswick.
US jet fuel stocks ended last month at 45.2-million barrels, the highest for the month since 1999, data from the US energy information administration (EIA) showed.
US refiners' yield of jet fuel hit a record last year, reflecting stronger demand relative to other transportation fuels, the EIA said on Monday. The agency expects US jet fuel consumption to touch a record in 2026.
**Reuters**