Drive Diesel in Yakima? Get Ready to Pay a Record Price!

2022-05-20 23:28:04 By : Aurora qin

If you drive a diesel powered vehicle you're paying a record price for fuel say officials from GasBuddy. Diesel prices Friday reached a new average all-time high of $5.16 per gallon. GasBuddy officials also say a second record has also been set: The price of diesel is now $1 per gallon higher than average gas prices, passing the previous record 98 cent difference set in November of 2008.

“While gasoline prices get much of the attention, diesel, which broadly is the fuel that moves the economy, has quietly surpassed its recent record high as distillate inventories, which include diesel and jet fuel, have plummeted to their lowest level in years,” says Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “Should distillate inventories fall another five million barrels, which is less than five percent, they will be at their lowest level in nearly 20 years, compounding the problem. There’s no quick solution as the economy has seen a robust turn around, made worse by Russia’s war on Ukraine as the West fences off Russia’s oil.”

GasBuddy officials say the recent "resurgence in diesel prices can be attributed to continued escalations in the situation and plunging inventories of oil and refined products, like diesel, along with recovering demand as goods move across the country, much of which is powered by diesel fuel in semi-trucks, trains and ships."

The future for diesel prices isn't bright especially in the Northeast because of the loss of refining capacity from both Covid-induced shutdowns and a 2019 fire at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in 2019. GasBuddy officials say both issues have caused the loss of almost a million barrels in refining capacity. As the imbalances continue GasBuddy says "diesel prices are likely to remain at a substantial premium to gasoline."