Forget crude oil. The real energy crisis right now is in diesel

The average price of diesel gas on Wednesday hit its highest level since the Iran war started, as a global supply bottleneck tightens and seasonal demand is poised to rise.

The fuel that powers everything from boats and trains to farm equipment and 18-wheelers hit $5.69 a gallon nationwide, according to AAA data. That’s up 33 cents from just a month ago, and 54% from September 2025, when the average price was $3.69 a gallon.

The pace of price increases for diesel have been much higher than for unleaded gasoline, which is up about 29% percent from the same period last year.

“There are more alarms going off for diesel than for other crude oil products,” said Gregory Brew, an analyst with the Eurasia Group consultancy.

Following a diesel-price surge this summer that was largely due to airstrikes targeting refineries in the Middle East, experts say that now the Ukraine war, and specifically Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries inside Russia, is having an equal or even greater effect on diesel prices.

Russia is the world’s second largest exporter of diesel fuel after the U.S., Brew noted. With key Russian oil refineries forced offline, the result has been a massive…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business