US diesel hits record $6.50 a gallon

The average price of diesel — widely used in trucks, farm equipment and other machinery and long considered a fuel for working Americans — has surpassed $6.50 per gallon in the United States.

The American Automobile Association (AAA) said the national average retail price of diesel stood at $6.505 per gallon as of Saturday. Diesel first broke the $6-per-gallon barrier on Sept. 11, when news broke of an attack on a Saudi Arabian pipeline, reaching $6.06 per gallon. It then surpassed $6.50 just over 10 days later.

Diesel prices have surged roughly 70 percent since the Iran war broke out on Feb. 28. This month alone, prices climbed 87 cents per gallon after Houthi militants began intensifying attacks on Saudi Arabia's crude oil export routes. The previous record of $5.81 per gallon, set in June 2022 in the immediate aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war, has been broken repeatedly this month.

The immediate drivers of the recent diesel price spike include Iran's continued control of the Strait of Hormuz, disruptions to Saudi Arabia's crude exports that had been routed around the strait, and Ukraine's intensified strikes on Russian oil refineries. Russian authorities also announced a temporary ban on diesel exports.

In the United States, diesel is primarily used in trucks, farm equipment, ships, trains and generators, making it a fuel closely associated with working-class Americans. Bloomberg said Sunday that the surge in diesel prices could erode Republican approval ratings ahead of the November midterm elections, particularly in agricultural states such as Iowa and in states like Maine that rely heavily on heating oil.