Gas oil is one of a family of heavy oils made from the fractional distillation of petroleum. Gas oil can be used for heating or automotive applications, where it is called 'diesel fuel'. It is also sometimes referred to as '35 second oil'.
Gas oil or 'red diesel' is the diesel fuel for commercial, industrial and agricultural off-road vehicles & machinery that are exempt from Excise Duty. Why red? Gas oil for use in vehicles such as tractors, tippers or mowers, is taxed less than the diesel (white diesel) used in ordinary road vehicles. A red dye is added to allow inspectors to identify that it is being used correctly.
The fuel’s premium, or crack, to Brent fell to $12.59 a barrel now, the lowest since June 12, on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange. That’s down about 20 percent this year. ICE gasoil is used as a benchmark for middle-distillate fuels including heating oil, diesel and jet fuel.
European Gasoil is a definition for Nº 2 Heating Oil and Nº 2 Diesel fuel. It is used as the pricing reference for all distillate trading in Europe and beyond. The underlying physical market is heating oil barges delivered in ARA (Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam).
European gasoil futures are also traded at the ICE Europe under ticker symbol G. Contract size 100 metric tons quoted in US dollars and cents per metric ton. Contract settled with physical delivery, to barge or by in-tank or inter-tank transfer, within the within the ARA (Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam) area.
Delivery by volume is 118.35 cubic metres per lot being the equivalent of 100 tons of gasoil at a density of 0.845 kg/litre in vacuum at 15°C.
Europe usually relies on imports from the U.S. and Russia to meet its demand for heating fuel and diesel. This year, the typical flow of cargoes was reversed as mild weather on the continent spurred shipments to the U.S. East Coast, which was hit by arctic weather.
Gasoil futures for April delivery fell 1.1 percent, or $9.50, to $897.25 a metric ton at 1:47 p.m. on ICE in London. Household heating oil tanks in Germany were 53.4 percent full at the end of February, the highest for the time of year since at least 2011, according to data from research company Ipsos Loyalty GmbH. The nation is Europe’s largest heating market.