EIA: Diesel Price Highs Spurred by Outages, U.S. Exports


   
Barani Krishnan
DTN Refined Fuels Market Reporter

   SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) -- Global production outages and tight inventories are 
keeping prices of diesel and refining margins for the product higher across the 
United States, the U.S. Energy Information Administration noted Friday (9/18).

   U.S. retail diesel prices averaged $6.29 per gallon during the week ended 
September 14, their highest since 2022 on an inflation-adjusted basis as well 
as a record since the agency began publishing the data in 1994.

   Separately, DTN data showed the crack, or profit margin, for diesel at above 
$110 bbl for a fourth consecutive session on Friday, while a barrel of West 
Texas Intermediate crude was lower at around $102.

   "Reduced distillate production abroad has caused international prices to 
increase, driving up both the cost to import diesel to the United States and 
increasing demand for diesel exports from the United States," the EIA said in 
its analysis.

   Refining disruptions across Russia, China, and the Middle East have choked 
off regional product supplies, forcing international buyers to compete heavily 
for U.S. fuel exports while simultaneously driving down U.S. waterborne 
imports, the agency added.

   Domestic refiners have responded to the squeeze by operating near peak 
capacity, keeping utilization rates as high as 97% during the latest week ended 
September 11, the EIA found.

   The higher refinery runs have helped U.S. distillate production an average 
of 5.1 million bpd between January and August, the highest since 2019.




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