Diesel Prices Soar To $6 Per Gallon As Iran War Continues

Diesel prices blew past $6 per gallon nationally Friday, setting another record as the Iran war continues to squeeze global oil and refined-fuel supplies.

The national average for diesel reached $6.06 per gallon Friday, up from $5.98 Thursday and $5.85 one week ago, according to AAA. Diesel averaged just $3.71 per gallon one year ago, meaning prices have climbed roughly 63% year-over-year.

The new record comes just one week after diesel reached $5.85 per gallon, surpassing the previous record set during the 2022 energy crunch, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.

Diesel prices can also hit Americans far beyond the gas station. Trucks, trains, construction equipment and agricultural machinery rely heavily on diesel, according to the EIA, allowing higher fuel costs to filter through transportation, farming and consumer goods.

The record diesel prices arrive as the Iran War disrupts one of the world’s most important oil shipping corridors and drives up the cost of moving crude across the globe.

Earnings for supertankers traveling from the Middle East to China reached a record $759,969 per day in September, while the cost of shipping crude from the U.S. Gulf Coast to China reached a record $29.5 million per voyage on Sept. 4, according to S&P Global.

Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has also slowed significantly amid the conflict.

Kpler data showed a 10-day moving average of just 10 commodity ships per day passing through the strait, the lowest since May, compared with roughly 125 to 140 daily transits before the war, Stuart Turley, president and CEO of the Sandstone Group and host of the Energy News Beat podcast, previously told the DCNF.

The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf with the Arabian Sea and represents one of the world’s most consequential energy chokepoints. Roughly one-fifth of global petroleum liquids consumption passes through the strait, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The diesel crunch has become particularly acute in California, where some stations listed diesel at $9.99 per gallon Thursday, reaching the highest price some dispensers can display, according to GasBuddy.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, told the DCNF that three locations in the state were showing the price after the company determined some earlier $9.99 reports indicated stations had run out of diesel.

“The war in Iran has disrupted global diesel fuel supplies, driving fuel prices to record levels worldwide, including across the United States,” California Energy Commission staff told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“California prices, like those everywhere else, are shaped by the global oil market. Until the conflict ends and global fuel supplies stabilize, Americans nationwide will continue to see higher prices at the pump.” California Energy Commission staff told the DCNF.