Overview
- Global diesel benchmarks have climbed to multi‑month highs with U.S. on‑highway averages around $5.60–$5.69 per gallon and Brent trading in the mid‑$90s to high‑$90s, levels close to the April wartime peak.
- Supply drivers include renewed U.S. strikes on Iran, fewer tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea incidents, plus Russia’s July restrictions on diesel exports that reduced Eastern European flows.
- Refining capacity and inventories are tight as lower refinery runs and falling stockpiles let U.S. and Canadian refiners charge a premium and boost exports, squeezing domestic supply buffers.
- Governments and industry are responding with immediate price changes and talks: South Africa and Pakistan raised retail fuel prices and President Donald Trump summoned major U.S. refiners to discuss raising output.
- The rise in diesel raises freight and farm costs now and risks passing through to consumer prices later, with analysts warning this could add tenths of a percentage point to headline inflation and squeeze households and businesses.