Diesel prices in central Pennsylvania are well above $6 a gallon from what I have seen. Trucking and fuel execs are warning that stations are risking running out completely in coming months:
"I wouldn’t be surprised to see diesel being rationed on the East Coast this summer.
“Right now, inventories are low, and we may see a shortage in coming months,” Catsimatidis, CEO of United Refining Co., told Bloomberg.
Meanwhile the US has been exporting record amounts of diesel. Russia is a major exporter of diesel, and trade sanctions have disrupted the supply at the same time that markets were already tight.
Lack of diesel can have a domino effect since diesel-powered trucks, trains, barges, etc. deliver practically everything.
Are we headed towards another supply chain crisis?
Should the government step in to ration supplies? Similar policies were a disaster in the 1970s.
Putin invaded Ukraine because he knew that Biden and the other NATO leaders are so stupid that they would commit economic suicide with the resulting trade sanctions.
Meanwhile prices of Russian food and energy exports climb to record levels.
He’s telling companies to export instead of selling it here?
From the Op’s link.
“Citing Vortexa tracking data, Bloomberg said that up to 2.09 million bpd of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel shipped out of the Gulf Coast last month. That rate represents the highest volume since 2016 based on known data”.
The market is determining the exports. The US banned imports of petroleum products, including diesel. The Europeans have reduced imports as a result of financial sanctions, and they are buying from alternatives sources.
The market for diesel was going to be tight even without the effects of the sanctions. If the sanctions are successful and reduce Russian output, then they will also result in a spike in global prices. No one can easily make up for the loss in Russian capacity, and the laws of supply and demand still apply in spite of the wishful thinking from politicians.
That diesel doesn’t belong to the government. If the exporters aren’t patriotic enough to make sure Americans are supplied first, then name, shame and let Americans vote with their wallets.
It was $7/gallon, and every time gas moved up a penny, it was THANKS, OBAMA. When it went down, Obama was never given similar credit. That thread was funny.
Money talks. The people running the oil distribution system are looking to maximize profits, not cater to international politics.
On the other hand Biden has been drawing down on the stocks of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Here is the graph for distillated fuel oil, which includes diesel fuel. The stocks have dropped from about 35% since Biden took office and they are falling fast.
Shouldn’t diesel be less expensive than regular gas since it is refined less?
Answer
“The major reason for the cost disparity is the high federal and state taxes levied on diesel, largely due to the carbon emissions produced.”
I think I see the end goal now to fix global warming they will make half of the country so poor they can’t afford to drive and the other half drive less, nice.
However the tax increases have come from states, because the federal government has not adjusted the rate of federal tax on either gasoline or diesel since 1993.
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