A gas rally turned LNG in Rotterdam from a discount into a premium in one week

In Rotterdam, the cheaper ship fuel changed in a single week. ENGINE's Fuel Switch Snapshot reports that liquefied natural gas (LNG) burned in Otto medium-speed engines went from a $23 a tonne discount to low-sulfur marine gasoil to a $44 premium over it, as gas prices rallied.

How the prices moved

LNG is priced on the TTF gas contract, and the rally in that contract carried LNG with it. Liquefied biomethane (LBM), the renewable version of LNG, swung the same way, from $17 a tonne below low-sulfur marine gasoil to $42 above it.

Pure biodiesel (B100) went in the opposite direction. It moved from a $26 a tonne premium over high-sulfur fuel oil to a $62 discount.

These are not raw fuel prices. ENGINE adjusts them for energy content and includes estimated compliance costs for voyages within the EU, covering the EU Emissions Trading System and FuelEU Maritime penalties. Compliance is already part of the price a ship pays.

A moving green premium

For cargo owners and carriers, the lesson is that the green premium, the extra cost of a lower-emission fuel, is not a fixed number. It can change sign within a week, depending on gas prices, carbon prices and the fuel being compared.

That makes it harder to agree who pays for what. A carrier that commits to a lower-emission fuel takes on price risk, and a cargo owner that wants the reduction counted in its Scope 3, or value-chain, emissions needs a clear record of what it paid for.

One record for both sides

Credits are issued to the project developer after independent verification, and Carbon3 records each verified reduction once in its registry as inset credits. Carrier and cargo owner then work from the same figure, whatever the fuel cost that week. This is insetting, not offsetting, and the difference is explained at carbon3.net/insets-vs-offsets.

Claim treatment depends on the applicable reporting framework.

If the cheaper fuel can change every week, the open question is who should carry the green premium: the carrier or the cargo owner.

Source: ENGINE, "Fuel Switch Snapshot: Gas rally lifts LNG and LBM above LSMGO for Otto MS" (26 October 2026).