Overview
- Diesel hit national averages of roughly $5.69 to $5.78 per gallon this week, reaching the highest levels since the Iran war and closing in on April peaks.
- The price surge reflects overlapping shocks: Russia’s July diesel export restrictions, renewed tanker disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea, and lower global refinery runs and U.S. stockpiles.
- Brent crude climbed into the mid‑to‑high $90s per barrel and flirted with $100, boosting refining margins and prompting North American refiners to raise exports and profits.
- The White House convened major U.S. refiners to seek ways to raise capacity and several countries and regulators moved to raise or more frequently revise retail fuel prices, including South Africa and Pakistan.
- Higher diesel raises trucking and farm costs that feed into food prices and headline inflation, and markets will watch tanker transit data through Hormuz and any resumption of Russian exports for signs of relief.