Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,
Low inventories sent the national average diesel price in the United States back above $5, the first weekly price increase in more than two months.
Distillate fuel inventories in the Northeast are particularly low, with supplies of diesel fuel and heating oil in New England currently 63% below the five-year average.
There is a growing fear that an extreme weather event could significantly disrupt distillate supply in the North East.
The national average diesel price in the United States rose in the week to August 29 to above $5 per gallon again, the first weekly increase in more than two months, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed.
For the week to August 29, the U.S. nationwide price of diesel jumped to $5.115 per gallon, up from $4.909/gal for the previous week.
Higher diesel prices, due to low inventories, are hurting the trucking and agricultural businesses and raising the prices of consumer goods.
Distillate fuel inventories, which include diesel, are about 24% below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said in its latest weekly petroleum status report.
Inventories in the Northeast are dangerously low, at over 50% below the recent average, according to a survey by the U.S. Department of Energy cited by the Associated Press. Supplies of diesel fuel and heating oil are 63% below the five-year average in New England and 58% below the five-year average from Maryland to New York, according to the survey.
Officials are concerned that an extreme weather event could cause a major disruption to distillate fuel supply in the Northeast and the entire East Coast.
Now diesel prices nationwide are back up above $5 per gallon, at an average of $5.073/gal on August 30, per AAA data. This compares with $4.973/gal a month ago, and with $3.278/gal at this time last year.
In the week to August 8, the average U.S. diesel price dropped to below $5/gal for the first time since March, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine drove oil prices up and upended global crude and fuel trade flows.
This year’s peak diesel price was hit on June 19 at $5.816 per gallon, which was also the highest ever recorded average diesel price in America, per AAA data.
