Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is colourless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial aviation are Jet A and Jet A-1, which are produced to a standardized international specification.
The only other jet fuel commonly used in civilian turbine-engine powered aviation is Jet B, which is used for its enhanced cold-weather performance. Jet fuel is a mixture of a large number of different hydrocarbons. The range of their sizes (molecular weights or carbon numbers) is restricted by the requirements for the product, for example, the freezing point or smoke point.
The price of jet fuel is on the rise. During 2010, increasing demand for oil pushed jet fuel prices up from $88 a barrel at the start of the year to $107 a barrel by year end. The 12-month average was $91 a barrel, a rise of almost 30% from average 2009 levels.
Hedging and fuel efficiency gains provided some protection but, even so, the airline industry fuel bill rose more than 11% to $139 billion in 2010, equivalent to 26% of operating expenses.
By the end of March 2011, driven largely by unrest in the Middle East, prices had risen even further, reaching $130 a barrel, which corresponds to around 33% of operating costs. IATA’s March forecast estimated an average 2011 price for fuel of $96 a barrel, about 29% of total operating costs.
In 2012, U.S. pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) net imports accounted for 6% of total U.S. natural gas consumption. More than 99% of the pipeline-imported natural gas came from Canada, with the remainder from Mexico.
Natural gas pipeline gross imports, which have declined over the past five years, are projected by EIA to remain near their 2012 level through 2014. LNG imports are forecast to remain at minimal levels of less than 0.5 Bcf/d in both 2013 and 2014.
In 2012 the U.S. imported 3,135,346 Mcf of natural gas and exported 1,618,946 Mcf, resulting in net imports of 1,516,400 Mcf, or 6% of U.S. 2012 natural gas consumption.
Competition with Other Fuels Can Influence Natural Gas Prices. Large-volume gas consumers (primarily industrial consumers and the electricity generation fleet) can switch between natural gas, coal, and oil, depending on the prices of each fuel.
While 37% of electricity was generated from coal in 2012, the use of natural gas generation has been on the rise, generating 30% of electricity in 2012. Electricity generation using natural gas can become attractive, relative to coal-fired electricity generation, in some areas of the country when the price of gas on an energy equivalent basis becomes less than the price of coal.