The other thing no-one can explain to me is why Avgas in the US costs about the same as Jet A1, whilst in Europe, Avgas PRETAX is twice as expensive as Jet A1 PRETAX. The pretax delta between avgas and avtur is now greater than what avgas used to cost a few years ago.
I'll try an explanation that partially explains it, but it certainly warrants further investigation.
JET A1 is likely to be cheaper, because the production, refining and transportation costs are almost equal to Avgas. However, the JET A1 total production volume is much higher, so you get economies of scale. In addition, JET A1 is more actively traded in the commodity markets, which avoids large surplus margins.
This explains the US situation of a JET A1 - spread of about $0.50 to Avgas. Now total Avgas use in the US is a lot higher than in Europe (Our regulatory environment plus taxation plays a role there - "We all trade down in terms of what we fly and how often and to what destinations, relative to what we'd do living in the USA"), so again an economy of scale might play.
I estimate that could amount to a spread of $0.75 as opposed to $0.50, but not much more (per gallon). Otherwise you could just start a company delivering avgas to a few selected regional airports with long term contracts and make an absolute killing.
Unless, of course, the main oil companies in Europe form a secret and illegal cartel. I understand there are only 3 major production facilities left in Europe : Hjelmco in Sweden, Shell-BP in the Netherlands and Total in France, which economists would call "a high market concentration".
So, 421C, I think you should do two things :
1) Have a look into a business plan to see whether you could deliver cheap avgas by sourcing it directly from the major production facilities.
2) If the price at source turns out to be too high to win, and
if you have concrete historical data to back up your claim, I think we should write to the European Commission and launch a formal complaint.
If (1) turns out to work, I would appreciate an invitation to your yacht in Cannes for canapés and champaign
