Overview
- Citing GasBuddy and AAA data, the national average for regular gasoline climbed to about $4.03 per gallon on Wednesday, Aug. 12, the highest level recorded this late in the calendar year.
- Global diesel markets are exceptionally tight after S&P Global and the IEA found refineries processed about 7.5 million barrels per day less crude than a year earlier, shrinking seaborne diesel flows.
- Targeted attacks on refineries and restrictions on exports by major suppliers, including Russian diesel curbs and lower Middle East and Chinese output, have removed large volumes of available fuel from world markets.
- U.S. inventories and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve sit at multi‑decade lows while refineries are running near 95–97% capacity, prompting the EIA to raise its 2026–2027 diesel price outlook and leaving little buffer before fall maintenance and hurricane season.
- Higher diesel and pump prices raise costs for trucking, construction and heating, tighten household budgets, and are applying political pressure on the administration with the midterm elections approaching.