Low Sulphur Gasoil
ICE
Europe's distillate anchor: 100-tonne lots of 10 ppm diesel delivered by barge in the ARA hub.
Top Producers
share of 2024 European diesel and gasoil imports by source
Top Consumers
share of 2024 European diesel and gasoil demand by country
Main Uses
diesel and gasoil demand by end use
Top Exporters
share of 2024 seaborne diesel and gasoil exports into the EMEA market
Top Importers
share of 2024 seaborne diesel and gasoil imports priced off ICE gasoil
Global Liquids Production
country share of roughly 105 million barrels per day of total liquids (crude, condensate, NGLs, biofuels, refinery processing gain), 2025 (IEA and EIA)
Global Liquids Consumption
share of roughly 105 million barrels per day of total liquids demand, 2025 (IEA and EIA)
European diesel and gasoil demand
roughly 6 million b/d
as of 2025
Contract size
100 tonnes (roughly 750 barrels)
Sulphur specification
10 ppm maximum
Pre-embargo Russian diesel to Europe
roughly 500,000 b/d
as of 2021
Futures and options volume
roughly 250,000 contracts/day
as of 2025
ICE Low Sulphur Gasoil is the benchmark for middle distillates across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and much of Asia. The contract trades in 100-tonne lots, prices in US dollars per tonne, and physically delivers 10 ppm sulphur gasoil by barge in the ARA hub of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp. It descends from the original IPE gasoil contract of 1981; the specification tightened from 0.1% sulphur to 10 ppm with the January 2015 expiry, tracking European road-fuel standards, and the contract was renamed Low Sulphur Gasoil. Jet fuel, diesel, and heating oil differentials across the Eastern Hemisphere are quoted against it, which makes it the distillate equivalent of what Brent is to crude.
Europe is structurally short diesel: its refineries cannot make enough of it for a vehicle fleet that dieselized heavily in the 1990s and 2000s. Russia filled the gap with roughly 500,000 barrels per day until the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The war made gasoil the most violent market of the crisis: front-month futures and cash diffs hit records in March 2022, ICE raised margins sharply, and the EU embargo of February 5, 2023, combined with the G7 price cap, forced Europe to resupply from the US Gulf, the Middle East's new mega-refineries (Jizan, Al Zour, Duqm), and India. Tonne-miles rose for everyone, and the gasoil curve carried a war premium for years.
The contract is also the hedging home for jet fuel: airlines across Europe and Asia hedge jet exposure with gasoil futures plus a jet differential swap, because gasoil liquidity dwarfs the jet OTC market.
How It Trades
| Venue | ICE Futures Europe |
| Benchmark contract | Low Sulphur Gasoil futures (G) |
| Contract size | 100 tonnes |
| Price terms | USD per tonne |
| Settlement | Physical delivery by barge into customs-cleared storage in the ARA area; most positions roll, and the EMEA distillate swaps complex cash-settles against it |
| Typical curve | Winter-premium seasonality on top of crude structure; extreme backwardation in March 2022 when Russian supply risk peaked |
| Liquidity | Roughly 250,000 contracts per day equivalent across futures and options, the most liquid product contract outside the US |
Where It Trades
approximate share of global daily traded gasoil volume, 2025
Supply and Demand
Top producers
- ARA refining and storage hub (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp), the delivery point
- US Gulf Coast exporters supplying transatlantic cargoes
- Middle East mega-refineries: Jizan and Jubail (Saudi Arabia), Al Zour (Kuwait), Ruwais (UAE)
- Indian export refiners: Reliance Jamnagar and Nayara Vadinar
Before February 2022 Russia was Europe's dominant external diesel supplier; the EU embargo of February 5, 2023 rerouted those barrels to Turkey, Africa, and Latin America and pulled Middle East and US barrels into Europe.
Top consumers
- European road transport, the largest diesel fleet market in the OECD
- European heating, industrial, and agricultural users
- African and Mediterranean importers pricing cargoes against ICE gasoil
Major uses
- Road diesel across Europe and its import-dependent neighbors
- Heating gasoil in Germany and surrounding markets
- Pricing reference for jet fuel and diesel differentials across EMEA and Asia
What Moves the Price
- European diesel demand and the structural refining short against it
- Russian export rerouting under the EU embargo and G7 price cap since February 2023
- Middle East and Indian refinery runs and export availability
- Rhine water levels and ARA logistics, which periodically strand inland supply
- Winter heating demand in northwest Europe
- Freight rates and Red Sea routing, which lengthen the resupply chain from the east
- Transatlantic arbitrage from the US Gulf Coast
Moments That Made the Market
1981
IPE launches gasoil futures, Europe's first energy futures contract
2008
Gasoil peaks with the global distillate squeeze of mid-2008
2015
Specification tightens to 10 ppm with the January 2015 expiry; contract renamed Low Sulphur Gasoil
2018
Coming IMO 2020 rules begin pulling marine demand toward distillates, firming the gasoil complex
2022
Russia invades Ukraine; gasoil futures and European diesel premiums hit records in March 2022
2023
EU seaborne import ban on Russian products takes effect February 5, 2023; Europe rewires its diesel supply to the US, Middle East, and India
What Changed Since the 2010 Handbook Era
- The deliverable tightened from 0.1% sulphur to 10 ppm in January 2015
- Russia went from Europe's largest diesel supplier to embargoed, rerouting the entire Atlantic distillate map
- Middle East mega-refineries became swing suppliers to Europe, lengthening supply chains
- IMO 2020 added marine demand to the distillate pool via VLSFO blending and MGO
- Gasoil became the de facto global jet fuel hedge as airline hedging concentrated in liquid contracts