Jet A1 Procurement: Verifying Sellers and Documents Before You Pay

Jet A1 is one of the most tightly specified fuels in the world, and one of the most frequently misrepresented in unsolicited offers. Real demand from airlines, fuel distributors and airport suppliers gives fraudsters a convincing story. For a buyer, the discipline you apply before money moves matters more than the price you are quoted.

This guide covers the decisions that separate a delivered cargo from a lost deposit.

1. Establish who is actually selling

Few parties offering Jet A1 by email own it. Work out where your counterparty sits in the chain.

  • Refinery or producer: sells under term contracts to established, credit-approved buyers. It seldom sends cold offers.
  • Trader or portfolio holder: buys and resells. It should be able to show its own supply contract, the product location and a named storage terminal or vessel.
  • Intermediary or “mandate”: claims authority to sell someone else’s product. Every layer adds commission and obscures the real title holder.

Ask three questions in writing: who owns the product today, where is it physically, and who holds title at loading? A seller who cannot answer clearly is not ready to sell. Our step-by-step seller verification guide applies equally to refined products.

2. Verify the seller independently

Documents a seller supplies are claims, not proof. At a minimum:

  1. Pull the company registration from the public registry yourself.
  2. Confirm the signatory’s authority.
  3. Verify the bank through the bank, using a number you found independently.
  4. Contact the terminal operator directly to confirm storage or berth arrangements.
  5. Screen the parties, vessel and origin. See sanctions screening for oil buyers.

If you are using a broker, run through the 6-point broker checklist first.

3. Know the specification and the paperwork

Jet A1 is normally supplied to DEF STAN 91-091 or ASTM D1655, often described together as the joint checklist. The contract should name the governing specification and edition. Key properties include flash point, freezing point, density, distillation, and thermal stability, plus requirements on additives.

Expect to see, and confirm independently:

  • Certificate of Quality or Refinery Certificate of Quality tied to a specific batch and tank.
  • Release certificate for the batch, showing it met the specification when released.
  • Quantity and quality inspection report from an independent inspector.
  • Bill of lading, tank storage receipts or transfer documents that match the contract on names, dates and quantities.

Documents that disagree with each other on any of those details are a reason to stop.

4. Appoint independent inspection

The recognised inspection companies include SGS, Saybolt, Intertek and Bureau Veritas. What matters is who controls the appointment.

  • Appoint the inspector yourself, or jointly. A report the seller hands you is a document, not verification.
  • Confirm the report with the inspector using contact details you sourced yourself.
  • Specify the basis: sampling at loading, at discharge or both, and whether quantity is measured by shore tank or vessel.
  • Check the specification limits against the contract, not against a summary supplied by the seller.

5. Use payment instruments that protect the buyer

Most Jet A1 fraud ends at the payment step.

  • Documentary letter of credit: issued by a bank with genuine credit standing and payable against documents, including the inspection certificate. See what a buyer’s bank will and won’t issue.
  • Bank-to-bank instruments: acceptable only where issuance and confirmation can be verified through the banks themselves.
  • Warning signs: an up-front “processing”, “escrow” or “performance” fee, “refundable” deposits, or payment to a private or unrelated third-party account.

Be equally careful with proof-of-product material. Read what is real and what is a scam. Delivery terms also need to be exact; FOB vs CIF explains how risk and cost transfer.

6. Red flags in Jet A1 offers

  • Pricing well below the market, paired with urgency
  • A repeating “rolling” programme with no named terminal or vessel
  • Resistance to independent inspection or direct terminal contact
  • Requests for your bank details or proof of funds before they show anything
  • Fee demands before product is verified
  • Scripted pushback when you ask for independent confirmation, as described in The Mandate Defense Script
  • Documents that conflict on names, dates, quantities or batch numbers

The takeaway

A genuine Jet A1 seller can name the product owner, show the location, welcome independent inspection and accept a bank-verified payment instrument. If any of those is refused, walk away. If you are considering a Jet A1 purchase and want a second pair of eyes on the counterparty or the paperwork, get in touch with BarrelBridge before you commit funds.