# Diesel prices near record high

Business · Heat 1.2 / 10 · 8 shows · 1h 3m airtime

The national average diesel price hit $5.68 a gallon on September 2, 13 cents below the record, then set successive all-time highs, reaching $6.52 on September 22, according to AAA. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called for a temporary diesel export ban, and the FT reported the administration is holding crisis talks on one, though the White House called a Politico report of a 90-day ban fake news. PIMCO expects the full ban is on ice and import restrictions may be the fallback, while Greer asked France to release European diesel reserves and Macron is trying to convene a G7 meeting on a stockpile release. Russia agreed to release about 36 million barrels, which analysts say is too small to move…

Page: https://boilpoints.com/point/diesel_prices_near_record_high_1317361535

## Segments

- [Marketplace](https://boilpoints.com/u/marketplace), 2026-09-02, 1:51 to 4:03: **Reports diesel at $5.68 and traces the supply chain**. Reports the national average diesel price at $5.68 a gallon, 13 cents off the record, and walks the supply chain from tractor to grocery store to explain why harvest and heating demand will push it higher. New angle: The national average diesel price hit $5.68 a gallon, 13 cents below the all-time record.
- [Marketplace](https://boilpoints.com/u/marketplace), 2026-09-03, 12:40 to 15:17: **Follows diesel prices into freight rail**. Follows the diesel price into freight logistics: with diesel at $5.78 a gallon, shippers are moving containers to intermodal rail, and rail volume has hit a record this year. Adds the rail-side numbers and the driver shortage as a second push.
- [Marketplace](https://boilpoints.com/u/marketplace), 2026-09-04, 12:04 to 16:18: **Reports diesel's all-time high and falling equipment sales**. Farmers coping with high diesel, fertilizer and machinery costs by running decades-old equipment. Reports diesel hit an all-time high of $5.85 a gallon today, above the $5.68 national average the point has on record, and that farm equipment sales are down more than 20% this year. New angle: Diesel hit an all-time high of $5.85 a gallon today.
- [Marketplace](https://boilpoints.com/u/marketplace), 2026-09-14, 21:28 to 24:09: **Reports diesel's record $6.23 average**. Reports diesel's highest-ever average price, $6.23 a gallon per AAA, and explains inelastic demand: 70% of diesel goes to transportation, no scalable substitutes outside rail, so the cost passes to consumers quickly. New angle: Diesel hit its highest ever average price today, $6.23 a gallon, according to AAA.
- [The Journal.](https://boilpoints.com/u/thejournal), 2026-09-21, 17:39 to 18:19: **Adds J.P. Morgan abandoning baseline modeling**. Adds a J.P. Morgan commodities forecast that abandons baseline modeling because the oil shock has no visible end, and frames the August diesel spike as embedding into the broader economy.
- [Marketplace](https://boilpoints.com/u/marketplace), 2026-09-22, 1:28 to 3:09: **Opens on Bessent's export ban call**. Opens on the export-ban debate: Bessent and other officials want a temporary halt, with AAA's average now at $6.52. A Montana farmer's fill-up quote and two analysts' warnings about global prices and refiner pullback carry the segment. New angle: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called for a temporary ban on diesel exports; AAA's average hit $6.52 a gallon.
- [Marketplace](https://boilpoints.com/u/marketplace), 2026-09-22, 3:09 to 4:10: **Questions the diesel export ban**. Economists push back on Bessent's proposed diesel export ban: it would briefly lower domestic prices but raise global prices and push refiners to cut production, and the U.S. has no way to move Gulf Coast diesel to the East and West Coasts. New angle: The U.S. lacks infrastructure to move diesel from the Gulf Coast to the East and West Coasts.
- [Morning Brew Daily](https://boilpoints.com/u/morningbrewdaily), 2026-09-24, 8:20 to 13:25: **Cross-checks the diesel export ban report**. Politico reports the administration is preparing a 90-day diesel export ban; the White House calls it fake news and Fox hears the idea is being dropped. Adds the industry letter, Grassley's pressure, and a farmer's $75,000 monthly hit. New angle: Politico reported the administration is preparing a 90-day diesel export ban; the White House called it fake news.
- [Closing Bell](https://boilpoints.com/u/closingbell), 2026-09-25, 4:43 to 7:38: **Reports the White House weighing diesel ban alternatives**. Politico reports the White House is now weighing alternatives to an outright diesel export ban, including pushing it to the state level, after industry groups warned a ban would raise prices. Also notes Iran's oil on water outside the blockade is down to about 15 million barrels. New angle: Politico reports the White House is weighing alternatives to an outright diesel export ban, including passing it to the states.
- [Bloomberg Surveillance](https://boilpoints.com/u/bloombergsurveillance), 2026-09-28, 14:35 to 19:25: **Predicts an export ban stays on the table**. Treyz of Veda Partners reads the politics of the diesel spike: Trump at football and the Presidents Cup while pump prices sit near $4.50, roughly 40 days out from the midterms. She predicts an export ban is still on the table and flags Grassley's push for one. New angle: Grassley is asking the president to consider banning energy product exports.
- [Closing Bell](https://boilpoints.com/u/closingbell), 2026-09-28, 4:40 to 6:28: **Brings estimates on a diesel export ban**. Pippa Stevens reports Trump said over the weekend he is still very seriously considering a diesel export ban, and brings Goldman Sachs and Citi estimates on what a ban and a European reserve release would do to prices. New angle: Goldman Sachs estimates a full export ban cuts diesel 25 cents a gallon weekly and storage runs out in nine to 10 weeks.
- [FT News Briefing](https://boilpoints.com/u/ftnewsbriefing), 2026-09-30, 5:28 to 9:13: **Interviews McCormick on the diesel export ban**. Interviews the FT's Myles McCormick on the export ban the White House is weighing: it would cut US prices near term but lift global prices, and could raise prices in parts of the US that import diesel, forcing refiners to dial back runs. New angle: A diesel export ban could raise prices in parts of the US that import diesel and force refiners to dial back runs.
- [Bloomberg Surveillance](https://boilpoints.com/u/bloombergsurveillance), 2026-09-30, 7:51 to 14:23: **Walks through a diesel export ban**. Bank of America's Francisco Blanch walks through the mechanics of a diesel export ban: regional shortages in importing parts of the US, a possible cut in crude runs that creeps into gasoline prices, and whether Europe would tap its diesel reserve before winter. Adds the FT's crisis-talks reporting and Russia's export bans as context. New angle: The Financial Times reported the administration is holding crisis talks on a proposed diesel export ban.
- [Bloomberg Surveillance](https://boilpoints.com/u/bloombergsurveillance), 2026-10-01, 1:02 to 6:47: **Reads PIMCO's view that the export ban is on ice**. PIMCO's Libby Cantrill reads the White House retreat from the diesel export ban as a political calculation: the full ban is on ice, import restrictions may be the fallback, and the Iowa Senate toss-up is the test of whether it lands before early voting ends. New angle: PIMCO expects the full export ban is on ice and import restrictions on diesel may be the fallback.
- [Bloomberg Surveillance](https://boilpoints.com/u/bloombergsurveillance), 2026-10-01, 19:52 to 25:18: **Reports Greer pressing France on diesel reserves**. Greer, at the G20 trade ministers meeting in Milwaukee, says the diesel export ban came up bilaterally, that he pressed his French counterpart to release European diesel reserves, and that the US reads the price spike as one-time. New angle: Greer says he asked his French counterpart to release European diesel reserves.
- [Squawk Pod](https://boilpoints.com/u/squawkpod), 2026-10-01, 2:41 to 4:49: **Reports the diesel ultimatum to Germany and France**. Market check that turns to diesel: reports the White House told Germany and France to release emergency diesel inventories or face a possible U.S. export ban, and that Chinese refiners have suspended oil product exports. Also notes the national average at $6.39 versus $3.71 a year ago. New angle: The White House told Germany and France to release emergency diesel inventories or face a possible U.S. export ban.
- [Bloomberg Surveillance](https://boilpoints.com/u/bloombergsurveillance), 2026-10-02, 7:15 to 12:48: **Sizes Europe's diesel reserves**. Brings on SocGen's Michael Haigh to size Europe's reserves: commercial diesel down to about 360 million barrels from 400 million pre-war, roughly 270 million in product SPR, and a US export flow of 400,000 barrels a day. Adds Macron's push to convene a G7 leaders' meeting on releasing stockpiles. New angle: Macron is trying to convene a G7 leaders' meeting proposing a release of diesel stockpiles.
- [Big Take](https://boilpoints.com/u/bigtake), 2026-10-14, 1:32 to 4:12: **Reads the fuel tape and the Russia barrels**. Reads the current tape - Brent near $106.50, gasoline $4.33, diesel about $6.30 - and notes both fuels are at their highest ever for this time of year. Adds the Russia diesel deal: about 36 million barrels, which analysts call too small to move prices before the election. New angle: Russia agreed to release about 36 million barrels of diesel to the global market; analysts say the initial shipments are too small to move prices.
- [Closing Bell](https://boilpoints.com/u/closingbell), 2026-10-23, 12:02 to 13:22: **Adds Wells Fargo's margin drag estimate**. Picks up a Wells Fargo note on the retail side of the diesel story: margin drag estimates, Dollar Tree's freight hit, and Walmart's quantified 2027 inflation. Adds sell-side and company figures the diesel point had not carried. New angle: Wells Fargo sees a 27 basis point operating margin drag from diesel in Q3; Dollar Tree faces a $32 million freight hit.