Overview
- San Francisco’s average diesel price sits just under $8 per gallon, with California’s statewide diesel average at $7.63, according to GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan.
- AAA data shows regular gasoline averaging about $4.10 nationwide compared with roughly $5.9 in California, underscoring the state’s steep premium at the pump.
- In Big Sur, the Gorda by the Sea station is posting $9.99 per gallon because its pump display tops out at $10, and the off‑grid, hard‑to‑reach site faces high delivery and operating costs.
- Diesel supplies are tighter than gasoline because refineries must make a different product slate that also feeds jet fuel and heating oil, which has pushed diesel prices up faster and raised costs for trucking and farms.
- California’s special cleaner‑burning fuel blend, high state charges, refinery outages that sidelined about one‑fifth of capacity, and weeks‑long resupply from Asia magnify price shocks linked to the Iran war and the near‑halt of Strait of Hormuz traffic.