New indexes provide independent transparency to support offtake agreements
LONDON, Nov. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Global energy and commodity price reporting agency Argus has launched the world's first calculated prices for e-SAF (electrolytic sustainable aviation fuel). The modelled production costs will support offtake agreement negotiations and provide new transparency to help the energy industry address environmental requirements.
Governments recognise that biofuel-based SAF alone cannot decarbonise aviation, because renewable feedstocks, mostly used cooking oil, are a finite resource. As a result, the industry will need to use e-SAF, which is produced directly from hydrogen and carbon dioxide molecules.
Mandates for use of e-SAF in aviation take effect from 2028 in the UK and from 2030 in the EU, with significant penalties for non-compliance. Yet the industry is nowhere near ready. Of the 70 proposed e-SAF plants in the UK and EU tracked by Argus, no commercial-scale plant has yet reached a final investment decision (FID). Plants take three to four years to build, so FIDs must be taken within the next year if targets are to be met.
E-SAF as a pioneering technology is more expensive than bio-SAF and conventional jet fuel. The new Argus calculated costs for e-SAF production in November 2025 show it is currently 13 times the cost of conventional jet fuel and 3.5 times the cost of bio-SAF (produced using the HEFA SPK pathway) in northwest Europe.
Argus Media chairman and chief executive Adrian Binks said: "Long-term e-SAF offtake agreements are essential to the financing of production facilities. But buyers are wary of committing tens of millions of dollars in such agreements, and this has created a disconnect between supply obligations and demand, which in turn has stalled investment. Our new modelled costs will provide important independent transparency upon which participants across the e-SAF value chain can rely to inform their long-term decision making."
The new weekly indexes compute the production cost of e-SAF in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) region of northwest Europe on a €/t and $/t basis, and are published both inclusive and exclusive of capital expenditure.
These new calculated prices expand Argus' SAF offering, building on well-established market references in northwest Europe, Asia-Pacific and the US for hydrotreated esters and fatty acids synthesised paraffinic kerosene (HEFA-SPK) bio-SAF. The calculation methodology draws on Argus' pricing and consultancy expertise across biofuels, natural gas and hydrogen.
Argus contact information
London: Seana Lanigan
+44 20 7780 4200
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Houston: Matt Oatway
+1 713 968 0000
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Singapore: Tomoko Hashimoto
+65 6496 9960
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About Argus Media
Argus is the leading independent provider of market intelligence to the global energy and commodity markets. We offer essential price assessments, news, analytics, consulting services, data science tools and industry conferences to illuminate complex and opaque commodity markets.
Headquartered in London with nearly 1,500 staff, Argus is an independent media organisation with 30 offices in the world's principal commodity trading hubs.
Companies, trading firms and governments in 160 countries around the world trust Argus data to make decisions, analyse situations, manage risk, facilitate trading and for long-term planning. Argus prices are used as trusted benchmarks around the world for pricing transportation, commodities and energy.
Founded in 1970, Argus remains a privately held UK-registered company owned by employee shareholders and global growth equity firm General Atlantic.
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SOURCE Argus Media
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