Australia's jet fuel demand at 30-year low in 2020-21

Market: Oil products
16/08/21

Australian jet fuel demand dropped to a 30-year low in the 2020-21 fiscal year to 30 June because of Covid-19 restrictions on international travel, with domestic flight activity also constantly interrupted by travel halted between states because of emerging outbreaks.

Total jet fuel demand of 58,000 b/d in 2020-21 was the lowest annual average for a fiscal year since 56,000 b/d in 1990-91, data from the Australian Petroleum Statistics (APS) showed.

This is unlikely to rebound soon with Australia's most populous state of New South Wales, where the country's busiest airport Sydney is located, currently in lockdown because of an outbreak of the Delta variant of Covid-19. The federal government is hinting that it may take until March next year before some of the tight restrictions on international air travel are lifted.

Australian jet fuel demand averaged a record 162,000 b/d in 2018-19 prior to the pandemic, with international flights departing Australia averaging almost 103,000 b/d compared with 26,000 b/d for international flights in 2020-21. Demand for domestic air travel in Australia dropped by 30pc to an average of 33,000 b/d in 2020-21 from 47,000 b/d in 2019-20.

Australian refined output of jet fuel fell to 14,500 b/d in 2020-21 from around an average of 50,000 b/d in 2019-20, partly because of the closure at the end of March of the 146,000 b/d Kwinana refinery in Western Australia.

By Kevin Morrison

Australian jet fuel sales					(b/d)
	Domestic	International	Total	Refinery output	Jet fuel imports

Jun '21	42,600	27,421	70,021	18,071	92,117
May '21	49,300	26,780	76,080	18,909	30,858
Jun '20	16,226	22,390	38,616	4,612	20,901
2020-21 FY average	32,472	25,840	58,312	14,578	46,576
2019-20 FY average	47,397	78,757	126,156	50,111	83,105
2018-19 FY average	59,358	103,182	162,541	67,546	100,182
2020-21 vs 2019-20 % ±	-31.49	-67.19	-53.78	-70.91	-43.96
y-o-y % ±	162.54	22.47	81.33	291.82	340.73
m-o-m % ±	-13.59	2.39	-7.96	-4.43	198.52
Source: APS

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