Update: DOE/EIA diesel at record; so is futures price
The benchmark diesel price used for most fuel surcharges is at an all-time high. The post Update: DOE/EIA diesel at record; so is futures price appeared first on FreightWaves.
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With other key diesel prices having broken through several record numbers in the past week, it was time Tuesday for the benchmark number used for most fuel surcharges to do the same. The Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration average weekly retail diesel price rose 31. 8 cents/gallon to $6.
285/g, effective Monday but announced Tuesday, the highest price in its history. Beginning with the first price in July of $4. 578/g, the DOE/EIA number is now up $1. 707/cts/g. window. googletag = window. googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag. cmd. push(function() {var gptSlot = googletag.
defineSlot('/21776187881/FW-Responsive-Main_Content-Slot1', [[300, 100], [320, 50], [728, 90], [468, 60]], 'div-gpt-ad-1709668545404-0'). defineSizeMapping(gptSizeMaps. banner1). addService(googletag. pubads()); googletag. pubads(). enableSingleRequest(); googletag. pubads(). collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag. enableServices(); setInterval(function() {if (!
document. hidden) {googletag. pubads(). refresh([gptSlot]); } }, 30000); }); googletag. cmd. push(function() {googletag. display('div-gpt-ad-1709668545404-0'); }); A few hours after the DOE/EIA number was published, the settlement for the ultra low sulfur diesel contract on the CME commodity exchange came in at $5.
262/g, the highest settlement in a history that dates back to 1978. The DOE/EIA number lags such other indicators as the AAA daily retail diesel price and the SONAR DTS. USA data series on retail prices just because of its frequency. Both those prices had smashed through records since the prior DOE/EIA publication. The AAA all-time high price had been $5.
82/gallon, set back in June 2022 a few months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That record was broken last week, with the price then setting a new all-time high Tuesday at $6. 2694/g. The DTS. USA price Tuesday was $6. 26, also an all-time high.
But all of these prices are following the lead of the ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) on the CME commodity exchange. Prior to Thursday, ULSD had only settled above $5/g once, 4/28/2022, a day that was a complete aberration less than two months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine when numerous traders were caught short and needed to cover their position.
The settlement that day was $5. 1354. By the next day in June 2022, the price was far below the $5/g mark. The ultra low sulfur #diesel contract on CME/NYMEX started as a heating #oil contract in 1978. It became a diesel contract more than 10 years ago, though its symbol is still HO. It has never settled higher than it did today, at $5. 262/g.
This is its path since the Iran war began. pic. twitter. com/k23tylZXx5— John Kingston (@JohnHKingston) September 15, 2026 window. googletag = window. googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag. cmd. push(function() {var gptSlot = googletag.
defineSlot('/21776187881/fw-responsive-main_content-slot3', [[728, 90], [468, 60], [320, 50], [300, 100]], 'div-gpt-ad-1665767553440-0'). defineSizeMapping(gptSizeMaps. banner1). addService(googletag. pubads()); googletag. pubads(). enableSingleRequest(); googletag. pubads(). collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag. enableServices(); setInterval(function() {if (!
document. hidden) {googletag. pubads(). refresh([gptSlot]); } }, 30000); }); googletag. cmd. push(function() {googletag.
display('div-gpt-ad-1665767553440-0'); }); The earlier higher prices were given another upward kick Monday on news that there has been a shutdown after a power outage at the 264,000 barrel/da Joliet, Illinois refinery of ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM).
While news reports said the power had been restored, it will take an undetermined amount of time to restart the facility. The Joliet news was just one more development where somebody looking for a reason prices might drop would be hard pressed to find any evidence.
Another disruption to supply occurred late last week, when Houthi forces in Yemen loosely aligned with Iran knocked out the Saudi East-West pipeline.
That pipeline, which prior to the war had been lightly used, brings as much as 7 million barrels/day of oil to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea, away from the uncertain shipping lanes out of the Strait of Hormuz.
Chevron CEO’s warning Last week, Mike Wirth, the CEO of Chevron, who weeks ago had made a similar prediction even when prices had been softening, was stark in his outlook on the market. window. googletag = window. googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag. cmd. push(function() {var gptSlot = googletag.
defineSlot('/21776187881/fw-responsive-main_content-slot4', [[300, 100], [320, 50], [728, 90], [468, 60]], 'div-gpt-ad-1709668086344-0'). defineSizeMapping(gptSizeMaps. banner1). addService(googletag. pubads()); googletag. pubads(). enableSingleRequest(); googletag. pubads(). collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag. enableServices(); setInterval(function() {if (!
document. hidden) {googletag. pubads(). refresh([gptSlot]); } }, 30000); }); googletag. cmd. push(function() {googletag. display('div-gpt-ad-1709668086344-0'); }); “It’s harder to envision a scenario where prices soften quickly,” Wirth said, ac
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This briefing is based on reporting from Freightwaves. Use the original post for full primary-source context.
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