Alternative Fuels
ENGINE on Fuel Switch Snapshot: EU rules push LBM around $400/mt below LNG
Prices drop across the board at major ports; LBM EU-EU compliance edge grows further; Singapore’s B100 still $400/mt above VLSFO.
Once a week, bunker intelligence platform ENGINE will publish a snapshot of alternative and conventional bunker fuel prices in the world’s two biggest bunkering hubs. The following is the latest snapshot:
1 December 2025
- Prices drop across the board at major ports
- LBM EU-EU compliance edge grows further
- Singapore’s B100 still $400/mt above VLSFO
Rotterdam’s HBE-rebated liquefied biomethane (LBM) remains the cheapest compliance option for EU-EU voyages, despite dramatic price cuts across the board.
ENGINE’s assessed pooling estimates for LBM sold at 0 gCO2e/MJ have strengthened by $8–9/mt, with the average across seven surplus prices collected this week holding steady at roughly €216/mtCO₂e.
This means a dual-fuel ship sailing between EU ports and selling the compliance surplus it generates from using LBM instead of VLSFO now has a theoretical FuelEU pooling benefit of $938/mt for vessels with Otto MS engines and $1,099/mt for vessels with diesel SS engines.
LBM is treated as zero-carbon under the EU ETS. Combined with the theoretical pooling value and the Dutch HBE rebate, this can reduce the effective cost of bunkering LBM in Rotterdam to $116–127/mt.
For comparison, LBM is at a $202–363/mt discount to B100, a $396/mt discount to fossil LNG and a $371–532/mt discount to VLSFO in Rotterdam, depending on the vessel’s engine type and methane slip profile.
Liquid fuels
Rotterdam’s conventional fuel benchmarks have dropped sharply by $59-66/mt over the past week. The port’s HBE-rebated B100 has also fallen by $55/mt, a move amplified by a $7/mt rise in Dutch HBE rebates for marine B100.
These declines have widened B100’s discounts to HSFO and VLSFO by $21–25/mt on the week. On the other hand, its discount to LSMGO has narrowed slightly by $10/mt, to $398/mt.
The ENGINE-assessed FuelEU Maritime pooling value for B100 consumed on EU–EU voyages has risen by $6/mt to $676/mt.
Singapore’s conventional fuel prices have also declined, though more modestly, by $25–38/mt in the past week.
Its B100 price has dropped by $27/mt. Even then, B100 remains $227–549/mt more expensive than Singapore’s conventional grades, with its VLSFO spread widening by $1/mt to $467/mt.
The potential pooling value for B100 on nonEU–EU voyages from Singapore has risen by $3/mt on the week to $338/mt.
Liquid gases
Rotterdam’s LNG price has plunged by a steep $69–70/mt over the past week, while its LBM benchmark has also fallen sharply by $42/mt.
LNG’s drop is mainly tied to a 7% slide in the front-month Dutch TTF natural gas contract, which has eased on steady Norwegian supplies and expectations of higher temperatures across northwestern Europe.
Singapore’s LNG bunker price has slipped by a more modest $16/mt on the week. The price has tracked the downturn in the NYMEX Japan/Korea Marker, which has been weighed down by high stockpiles and sluggish gas demand in Northeast Asia.
By Konica Bhatt
Photo credit: ENGINE
Published: 2 December, 2025
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