1. What is the jet fuel crack spread today?
On 3 Nov 2026, a barrel of kerosene-type jet fuel on the US Gulf Coast was worth $76.68 more than a barrel of WTI crude: jet fuel at $4.198 a gallon times 42 gallons gives $176.32 a barrel, minus WTI at $99.64, by our own calculation from EIA spot prices. Against Brent, which closed at $107.03, the crack is $69.29; the difference is simply that day's Brent–WTI spread, shown because European refineries pay closer to Brent.
The weekly average takes out the day-to-day noise. In the week to 30 Oct 2026 the jet crack averaged $81.88 against WTI and $66.30 against Brent, with jet fuel at $4.464 a gallon, WTI at $105.59 and Brent at $121.17. The New York Harbor diesel crack on the diesel crack spread chart averaged $94.21 that week, $12.33 above jet fuel. The chart below puts the two cracks side by side since January 2015.
Jet fuel and diesel cracks, monthly averages Jan 2015 – Oct 2026, $ per barrel
Latest value (October 2026):
- Jet fuel (US Gulf Coast) minus WTI: $86.21
- Diesel (ULSD New York Harbor) minus WTI: $105.84
Source: EIA spot prices, own calculation by Global Oil Shock, as of 5 Nov 2026
The two lines belong together because jet fuel and diesel are both middle distillates from the same part of the barrel, and a refinery can shift some yield from one to the other. Their cracks therefore move in step, and the jet line sits below the diesel line in most months because diesel carries a tighter sulphur specification and a larger, steadier demand base. The broader refinery picture with gasoline included is on the 3-2-1 crack spread chart.
2. Is the jet fuel crack spread at a record high?
By monthly average, yes: September 2026 at $87.00 is the highest month since the EIA began quoting Gulf Coast jet fuel in April 1990, and October 2026 at $86.21 ranks second; the best month of any earlier year, January 2023 at $70.63, now sits in fourth place behind August 2026 ($72.05). Against Brent the ranking is tighter: September 2026 at $69.69 leads, ahead of January 2023 ($66.26) and August 2026 ($64.71).
Jet fuel crack spread, US Gulf Coast minus WTI, monthly averages Apr 1990 – Oct 2026, $ per barrel
Latest value (October 2026):
- Jet fuel crack (US Gulf Coast minus WTI): $86.21
Source: EIA spot prices, own calculation by Global Oil Shock, as of 5 Nov 2026
The daily and weekly records tell a different story, and the difference matters for anyone quoting this page. The single highest trading day in the series remains 28 Apr 2022 at $107.30; 12 Sep 2008 at $101.00 is second. The best day of 2026, 30 Sep 2026 at $99.25, is third, $8.05 short of the 2022 peak. The highest weekly average is still the week to 29 Apr 2022 at $91.45; the week to 25 Sep 2026 ($89.18) follows, $2.27 behind. In short, 2022 produced sharper spikes and 2026 a higher, longer plateau: 2026 owns the monthly records, 2022 still owns the daily one.
| Rank | Month | Jet − WTI ($/bbl) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 2026 | 87.00 |
| 2 | October 2026 | 86.21 |
| 3 | August 2026 | 72.05 |
| 4 | January 2023 | 70.63 |
| 5 | October 2022 | 68.69 |
Highest monthly averages since the EIA series began in April 1990; own calculation from daily values.
How far outside normal is the current level? The latest daily value stands at the 99.0th percentile of all trading days since April 1990, the October 2026 average at the 99.8th percentile of all months. Across 1990–2025 the jet crack averaged $15.84 a barrel; the 2026 average so far is $60.48, 3.8 times the long-run mean. The floor of the series: $-0.13 in May 1999, when jet fuel briefly sold for less than crude, and $0.28 in May 2020, with aircraft grounded by the pandemic. 41 trading days of 2026 have closed at $80 or more; before 2026 no month had ever averaged $80.
Two limits apply. Records refer to our monthly averages of EIA daily spot prices and can differ by a few cents from the EIA's own monthly figures. And this is a Gulf Coast series; other US regions are not part of the calculation. The yearly table runs from 2005.
| Year | Jet crack, average ($/bbl) |
|---|---|
| 2005 | 15.78 |
| 2006 | 14.78 |
| 2007 | 17.26 |
| 2008 | 24.84 |
| 2009 | 7.94 |
| 2010 | 10.79 |
| 2011 | 31.21 |
| 2012 | 34.33 |
| 2013 | 24.70 |
| 2014 | 19.97 |
| 2015 | 15.17 |
| 2016 | 9.27 |
| 2017 | 14.61 |
| 2018 | 19.91 |
| 2019 | 21.92 |
| 2020 | 7.03 |
| 2021 | 9.87 |
| 2022 | 46.51 |
| 2023 | 35.97 |
| 2024 | 21.60 |
| 2025 | 23.44 |
| 2026 (to 3 Nov) | 60.48 |
3. How is the jet fuel crack spread calculated?
Jet fuel crack spread = spot price of kerosene-type jet fuel in dollars per gallon × 42 − spot price of crude in dollars per barrel. One barrel holds 42 US gallons, so the multiplication puts the product price on the crude's unit. For the week to 30 Oct 2026: $4.464 × 42 = $187.49 a barrel of jet fuel, minus WTI at $105.59, gives $81.88. With Brent at $121.17 instead, the result is $66.30. The CSV lists both versions for every trading day since April 1990, plus the New York Harbor diesel crack from 2006.
Three cautions. Our numbers are spot-based; traders usually quote jet fuel as a differential to the NYMEX ULSD futures contract, so exchange-derived figures differ from ours. The crack is not a refinery's profit: it leaves out energy, labour and maintenance, and no refinery converts a whole barrel of crude into jet fuel; what refiners actually earn is covered under refining margin. And the spread says nothing about the crude price itself: a crack of $76.68 on top of WTI at $99.64 and on top of the pre-war $65.87 would mean very different jet fuel prices. The terms are explained in plain words under crack spread and diesel crack spread.
4. How has the jet crack moved week by week since the war began?
In the week to 27 Feb 2026, the last full trading week before the war, Gulf Coast jet fuel cost $2.469 a gallon, WTI $65.87 a barrel and the jet crack averaged $37.85; in the week to 30 Oct 2026 the crack averaged $81.88, 2.2 times as much. February 2026 as a whole averaged $30.52. The weekly chart starts in January 2025, so the break at the end of February 2026 can be read against an ordinary year; the diesel crack is the third line.
Jet fuel crack, weekly averages 3 Jan 2025 – 30 Oct 2026, $ per barrel
Latest value (30 Oct 2026):
- Jet fuel minus WTI: $81.88
- Jet fuel minus Brent: $66.30
- Diesel NYH minus WTI: $94.21
Source: EIA spot prices, own calculation by Global Oil Shock, as of 5 Nov 2026
Two features stand out. The jet crack jumped in March, held through the spring, eased in June and climbed to its highest readings in September and October. And the gap to diesel widened. In October 2026 the diesel crack averaged $105.84 and the jet crack $86.21, a difference of $19.63; the jet crack was worth about 81% of the diesel crack. Refiners facing that gap have an incentive to push yield toward diesel.
The table lists the last fourteen weeks with every input, so each crack can be recalculated by hand. The page is refreshed with each new full week of EIA spot prices.
| Week ending | WTI ($/bbl) | Brent ($/bbl) | Gulf jet ($/gal) | Jet − WTI | Jet − Brent | Diesel NYH − WTI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Oct 2026 | 105.59 | 121.17 | 4.464 | 81.88 | 66.30 | 94.21 |
| 23 Oct 2026 | 107.17 | 121.02 | 4.623 | 86.98 | 73.13 | 111.27 |
| 16 Oct 2026 | 99.93 | 125.59 | 4.500 | 89.09 | 63.42 | 111.21 |
| 9 Oct 2026 | 96.88 | 127.43 | 4.405 | 88.13 | 57.57 | 109.37 |
| 2 Oct 2026 | 98.07 | 120.03 | 4.416 | 87.41 | 65.45 | 106.52 |
| 25 Sep 2026 | 93.57 | 117.08 | 4.351 | 89.18 | 65.67 | 114.54 |
| 18 Sep 2026 | 103.54 | 124.15 | 4.584 | 88.98 | 68.37 | 115.82 |
| 11 Sep 2026 | 99.08 | 113.67 | 4.418 | 86.46 | 71.87 | 107.90 |
| 4 Sep 2026 | 92.22 | 99.09 | 4.097 | 79.86 | 72.98 | 102.20 |
| 28 Aug 2026 | 84.62 | 89.73 | 3.715 | 71.40 | 66.28 | 94.38 |
| 21 Aug 2026 | 87.35 | 94.20 | 3.922 | 77.38 | 70.53 | 102.87 |
| 14 Aug 2026 | 84.05 | 92.51 | 3.770 | 74.28 | 65.82 | 96.71 |
| 7 Aug 2026 | 78.94 | 87.86 | 3.431 | 65.14 | 56.23 | 83.59 |
| 31 Jul 2026 | 84.51 | 91.63 | 3.736 | 72.40 | 65.28 | 92.61 |
Weekly averages of EIA daily values. Jet crack = kerosene-type jet fuel price (US Gulf Coast) × 42 − crude price, $ per barrel, own calculation.
5. What does a wide jet fuel crack mean for airfares and fuel surcharges?
A jet crack of $76.68 a barrel means that, before taxes, into-plane fees and airline margins, jet fuel costs about $1.83 a gallon more than the crude it is refined from; in the week to 27 Feb 2026 that premium was about $0.90 a gallon. The crack is the slice of the jet fuel price that the crude price does not explain. Airlines buy fuel at prices tied to physical jet fuel assessments, not to crude, so when the crack widens their fuel bill rises faster than the headline oil price suggests. Fuel surcharges are the instrument most carriers use to pass part of that cost on; how they work and why they lag is explained under jet fuel surcharge. This page does not estimate ticket prices: the path from crack to fare runs through hedging, route mix, aircraft type and competition, none of which are in our data.
For the United States and the United Kingdom the practical reading differs. In US commentary the jet crack is quoted against WTI; for UK and European airlines, whose fuel is priced in a Brent-linked market, jet minus Brent is closer to their reality. The same middle-distillate squeeze reaches road fuel, as UK petrol and diesel prices show. Both products draw on one middle-distillate pool; see diesel shortage winter 2026/27 and diesel and jet fuel stocks. US distillate inventories and refinery utilisation are on US oil inventories; the crude side, with Brent at $107.03 and WTI at $99.64 on 3 Nov 2026, is on oil price today.
This page makes no forecast. It shows how expensive jet fuel is relative to crude today, how that compares with every week since April 1990, and how it sits against diesel.
Download all values as CSV (UTF-8, raw values and calculation per row, stable URL; CC BY 4.0 for our calculation, raw data under the source's terms)
How to cite: Global Oil Shock (Jörg Dässler), “Jet Fuel Crack Spread 2026: Daily, Weekly and Monthly Since 1990”, as of 5 Nov 2026, https://globaloilshock.com/en/data/jet-fuel-crack-spread/