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Diesel prices in U.S. top $6 a gallon for first time
- ck2 25d agoand remember $6 is average, diesel is $10 in some places even if you do not drive, it affects every delivery imagine this pattern through 2029 https://gasprices.aaa.com/ https://gasprices.aaa.com/ 800 more days, even just a penny increase per day we're out of $4 Million dollar tomahawks and the iranians have endless supply of $50K drones strategic oil reserve is about to experience permanent catastrophic damage from being drained too low
- sleepyguy 25d ago>strategic oil reserve is about to experience permanent catastrophic damage from being drained too low Apparently salt domes have a life span, you pump water in to remove oil. The water wears at the domes and removes more salt creating a larger cavern. It's not that we pumped out so much oil lately, it's because we were pumping out little bits over the last 5 decades constantly wearing at the domes. They were created at the time to only be used in a catastrophic situation, not when ever you want to control the price of oil...... Either way, you are correct in that their life has come to an end, we will require more expensive above ground storage going forward or we can electrify.
- bell-cot 25d agoWouldn't it be lovely if either party actually cared about inflation? 24 years ago, I recall diesel being $1.25/gallon, and hamburger meat at a little local grocer for $1/pound any time they had a sale. Now, even going to Costco, their ground chuck is $6/pound.
- swish-mish 25d ago[dead]
- Zigurd 25d agoWhether they can be credited with caring or not, one party didn't follow Netanyahu into war casually, even fecklessly.
- aplummer 25d agoThe whataboutists will tell you Bernie would storm the front himself.
- bell-cot 25d agoAnd the other party was (among other faults) amazingly complacent as major landlords colluded at scale - via RealPage software - to send apartment rents skyrocketing. If you look at the timeline, and the demographics of voters who lost enthusiasm for Biden between 2020 and 2024, it looks like a whole lotta the Americans living paycheck-to-paycheck decided to vote their pocketbooks. Vs. back in '72, when Biden was just getting elected to the Senate, Pres. Nixon was a noisy anti-inflation zealot. (Not saying Nixon was sane, nor legal...) Since Nixon was re-elected with >60% of the popular vote - in spite of negatives like the Vietnam War - I'd say that the Dem's failure to follow a so-obvious winning reelection strategy was exactly what handed Trump the opportunity to make the decisions which you so strongly dislike.
- Synaesthesia 25d agoWould be great if either party cared about issues which affect ordinary Americans. But they're extraordinarily alienated from the population.
- baggachipz 25d ago"both sides" is the reason we're in this shit show. It's like comparing a wart to stage 4 skin cancer.
- krior 25d agoWould be great if americans actually cared about those issues instead of complaining online all the time.
- markvdb 25d agoCurrent US leadership has very much failed ordinary people in the US and allied states. Incompetence or malice? Both is also possible...
- AlfredBarnes 25d agohttps://xkcd.com/3290/ https://xkcd.com/3290/
- Varelion 25d agoThese is one xkcd for everything, huh?
- MuffinFlavored 25d agoWhat is it "inflation adjusted" or is that cyclical because inflation itself measures/is a measure of the cost of diesel (which bleeds into the cost of goods and services)?
- blitzar 25d ago> up 60% from a year ago Inflation is high ... but not that high
- bluGill 25d agoDiesel was over $4/gallon in 2005. Please run inflation against that, not last years prices. (I remember 2005 prices I'm not old enough to remember diesel prices in the 1970s, but that would be an interesting place to run inflation from as well)
- margalabargala 25d agoIt's up 60% from a year ago, so adjusted for inflation, it's actually only up about 57% from a year ago.
- softwaredoug 25d agoIt seems one way Iran fights the US asymmetrically is by harming the Federal financial picture with endlessly higher rates + borrowing costs. If this keeps happening month-after-month, year-after-year, we're really going to feel the squeeze. Treasury has already tried to reassure markets and failed Add to this other trade war nonsense...
- iso1631 25d agoThis would not be happening if the USA had not launched an attack on Iran This was the desired effect though, as higher oil prices means more profit for US based oil producers. I'm sure that will trickle down any time now.
- disgruntledphd2 25d ago> This was the desired effect though Honestly, I think you're giving far too much credit to the current US government.
- gizajob 25d agoIt’s a simple calculation though and not talked about enough. USA went to war in Iraq 25 years ago thanks to the oilmen in charge at that time. For all the political bluster about Iran and gas prices, $100 oil makes them hugely more profit than $60 oil. Of course producers and shareholders of American oil companies want that extra free money. They’re not pumping oil out of the ground and keeping it at a low price just to be benevolent to the American consumer.
- toomuchtodo 25d agoI think that is a contributor, but the root cause of the Iran war was Netanyahu goading a simple person into it. The US military and intelligence community knew the risk of this, told everyone not to do it, and they did it anyway. (if one is some combination of unsophisticated, irrational, and vain, and in a position of power, they will eventually be exploited by someone more rational and sophisticated, imho)
- 29348915 25d agoRemember, the grandiose leader said the Iran special military operation will be over after the midterm elections. Unfortunately he meant the 2034 midterms.
- tejohnso 25d agoInitially he said it would be over after four to five weeks. Back in March. He also said he "will end the endless wars" and stressed there were "no new wars" under his first presidency in the 2024 campaing. And on election night he said "I'm not going to start a war. I'm going to stop wars." A lying politician is nothing new but he's doing it more bigly than most.
- magicalhippo 25d ago> A lying politician is nothing new I think saying he's lying is too generous. It implies intent. I think he's just not capable of separating truth from fiction anymore.
- sleepyguy 25d agoThe Ukraine angle is another cheap shot by CBS (state sponsored news). Prices are rising because of Trumps adventurism in the the ME and now that the Houthies will likely control the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, world markets are reacting. There is nothing stopping US refineries from producing more diesel, you can use both sweet and sour, this is speculators squeezing the markets. What a great time it should be to electrify heavy transportation. If they can do it in mining and construction, why can't transportation...
- citrin_ru 25d ago> There is nothing stopping US refineries from producing more diesel Aren't they already producing as much as they can? Which is not sufficient given that globally a significant fraction of refining capacity is offline.
- leetrout 25d ago> If they can do it in mining and construction, why can't transportation... Because supply side. Can't have our oil barons losing out.
- tyingq 25d agoGenuinely curious...the output drop in refining from Russia is not also a large factor in diesel (and other Petro) price hikes? Or are you saying the Ukraine drone strikes have not affected the output at a scale where it matters globally?
- bluGill 25d agoA lot of the Ukraine strikes affect Russia only. Russia has changed to import a lot more, and exporting less (I do not know the balance - most refining countries both import and export fuel from different locations), but the vast majority of the oil refined in Russia was used in Russia and they are unable to replace it. Ukraine strikes to impact the world price. However most of the impact is in Russia, elsewhere the effect is less. Iran is larger effect because the middle east as a more significant share of global oil. (both have an effect, but Iran is larger)
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- t1234s 25d agoIn the late 90's/ early 2000 Diesel was about the same cost as regular gas and then at some point its about the same cost as premium gas. Is there any reason why Diesel costs more? I was always under the impression that it was a less-refined fuel therefore cheaper.
- rob74 25d agoSupply and demand? Over here in Germany, Diesel was cheaper than (any kind of) gasoline for a long time, but that has also changed recently (Gemini says since Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022, so another thing to blame Putin for), now it's about 5% more expensive...
- KellyCriterion 25d ago...because Diesel is taxed differently than standard gas/Benzin there... EDIT: meaning "less taxes"
- fransje26 25d ago> Gemini says since Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022, so another thing to blame Putin for), now it's about 5% more expensive... No. That's not correct. It got more expensive than gasoline since the attack on Iran.
- MrRadar 25d agoUltra-low-sulfur diesel became mandated in 2006 as the only type that was legal to sell for road use. That requires extra refining to remove the naturally-occuring sulfur from the fuel which is why the cost went up.
- Scoundreller 25d agoIsn’t that sulfur more valuable than ever now?
- xingped 25d agoI thought I heard once it was because diesel might be more polluting than regular gas and thus has extra taxes on it? I could be entirely wrong though.
- VikingCoder 25d agoRemember when the common knowledge was that war was good for the economy?
- unrented7977 25d agoIt is, but only if you don't suck at it very bad
- rc_kas 25d agoThe moron in the White House is bombing his own oil supply.
- A_D_E_P_T 25d agoThat needs an update: Winning wars, if you win in a clean and non-Pyrrhic way, is usually good for the economy. Losing at war is universally bad. And long stalemated forever wars can be just as bad for both sides.
- rob74 25d agoLockheed would still agree that it's good for them - replacing all those $4 million Patriot rockets expended in the Middle East to shoot down Shahed drones that are one or two orders of magnitude cheaper is going to fill their order books for years to come...
- bluGill 25d agoOnly for a short time, everybody knows about cheap drones and they are ordering cheap drones (likely from Ukraine where they are field tested to work) to shoot down drones. If the next round is in a few years patriots will only be used on much more expensive ballistic missiles. That said, the patriot is a lot cheaper replace than the things it was defending so it was a good investment even if expensive.
- codedokode 25d agoNew (Russian) versions of Shaheds are jet propelled (much faster), have high-quality remote control, and as some claim, AI-based computer vision. So old interceptor drones are not working anymore. And the country can manufacture them at much higher rate than the other country can manufacture patriots.
- WarmWash 25d agoIf oil starts ruining the financial picture on top of just the...global welfare of every living human picture, then maybe, just maybe people will actually give up their addiction.
- thendrill 25d agoYou think the planet is gonna run out of oil before it runs out of water.... interesting.
- toomuchtodo 25d agoRefinery capacity is the bottleneck, there are only ~420 of them that remain [1] globally. We won't run out of oil, we will run out of refineries as they slowly close over the next 10-15 years. No new ones will be built, out of stranded asset risk. The more painful oil is now, the faster permanent changes occur to destroy the future demand curve [2] [3]. An EV deployed today will last long into the future, while ICE combustion sales continue to decline. China has destroyed oil import demand the equivalent of annual UK oil imports in the last six months, for example. Push those oil and diesel prices up, hold them up as long as possible. Several countries have banned internal combustion vehicle imports to push the needle on the EV trajectory (Ethiopia, Laos) because they are fossil fuel poor. Global EV sales have spiked, and already exceed 25% of total annual vehicles sales (~90M units/year) [4] [5]. We're just discussing how long until we reach tipping points that further accelerate the transition. How much fossil supply chain infra must be impaired to further move the needle? Hard to say, excited to find out. Electrify or get wrecked. To not to is a choice. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49479229 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49479229 (citations) [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49647405 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49647405 (citations) [3] Gas car sales fell 40% in August in China [Charts] - https://carnewschina.com/2026/09/08/gas-car-sales-fell-40-in-august-in-china-charts/ https://carnewschina.com/2026/09/08/gas-car-sales-fell-40-in... - September 8th, 2026 [4] Global sales of combustion engine cars peaked in 2017 - https://ourworldindata.org/data-insights/global-sales-of-combustion-engine-cars-peaked-in-2017 https://ourworldindata.org/data-insights/global-sales-of-com... - May 21st, 2026 [5] https://ourworldindata.org/electric-car-sales https://ourworldindata.org/electric-car-sales (as of this comment, China has enough EV manufacturing capacity to satisfy global demand; they are currently export constrained and cannot ship fast enough to meet demand)
- laimewhisps 25d agoIsrael has caused more damage the the US and entire world than any other country. They blackmailed our politicians into this war and we continue to suffer for their bloodlust.
- Varelion 25d agoEpstein was a mossad agent.
- krior 25d agoNo. The US is a sovreign nation. Noone "made" them act like that, they did this all by themselves and now thy try to shrug the responsibility.
- laimewhisps 25d agoI don’t think the US is a sovereign nation. No one wanted this war but we did it anyway. Our politicians are all bribed and blackmailed by Israel.
- krior 25d agoAnd who votes for those politicans?
- laimewhisps 24d agoPeople who aren't given a choice to vote for anyone else. I personally do not vote for this reason.
- krior 24d agoYou know that societal change is not a force of nature that just happens to us? Your president is threatening the whole world and all you "freedom-loving" americans manage to do is shrugging with the shoulders. A nation of spineless hypocrites.
- AmazingTurtle 25d agostill half as cheap as in EU
- Hamuko 25d agoMy grandma called last night and mentioned that diesel was 2.50 €/litre. That would make it about $8.75 a gallon.
- kioleanu 25d agoWhat you on about? A gallon of diesel is 5,9 euros in Italy and 8,6 euros in Germany. In other countries anywhere in between
- iso1631 25d agoIt works out at €1.40 a litre, or £1.20 a litre. Diesel at the local garage I passed at lunchtime is £1.89 (57% more). The web [0] suggests that is more expensive than anywhere in europe other than France and Denmark for some reason. So nowhere near "half as cheap". Throw in poor American average mileage and I suspect the price-per-mile is quite similar. [0] https://www.fuel-prices.eu/live/ https://www.fuel-prices.eu/live/
- bluGill 25d agoDiesel engines in the US are used for things where they do count fuel costs. (there are a few diesel cars/SUVs, but they are a tiny minority). In short for most diesel users the efficiency is very similar between US and Europe.
- noselasd 25d agoDiesel in Norway was about €2.5 a litre today.
- Scoundreller 25d agoA lot of the “savings” in US get eaten up through poor economy, poor driving strategy and dependence on traffic lights + stop signs instead of roundabouts + “traffic from the left/right gets priority” yield-by-default junctions. I think cost per kilometre/lightyear/rod is close
- ethagnawl 25d agoThe gas stations around me in NY had been hanging onto $5.99 9/10 for dear life.
- sockbot 25d agoIs this a new high water mark for inflation adjusted prices? I am not interested in nominal new highs.
- Merkur 25d ago$6 a gallon is about €1.36 a litre - thats cheap compared to a European average of €2 per litre. Still that makes very clear why Venezuela had to happen before Iran.
- throw0101d 25d ago> $6 a gallon is about €1.36 a litre - thats cheap compared to a European average of €2 per litre. As someone who drives a 2003 Golf TDI, I'm currently looking at CAD 2.40/L: EUR1.49/USD1.73 per L.
- hurfdurf 24d agoThose Euro prices are including 40%, 50%, 60% taxes in total. The US price is nowhere near those percentages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_taxes_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_taxes_in_the_United_State...
- Varelion 25d agoAmericans get what they voted for. This is what the republican party stands for: throwing the common man under the bus to protect the Epstein class.
- bluGill 25d agoI want to know what happened to all the free trade republicans we used to know... If anyone knows where they went I want to join them.
- Varelion 25d agoThe smart ones properly realized that their home is no longer in the republican party. The others were swept up in culture war because... What other adults do in their lives needs immediate government intervention from the party of small government.
- mindslight 25d agoMy question is not whether those who voted for Trump 2024 are going to come to their senses and sour on this incompetent, destructive, and corrupt con man. My question is how long their reality checks are going to last before they start leaning right back into the revanchist destructionist feel-good narratives that led us here in the first place. This senseless destruction would not have happened if they had merely listened to their fellow citizens rather than writing us all off as some caricatures of woke boosters as their media propagandists led them to. Was Trump 2024 a true enough instantiation of what they've been demanding that they can finally put their hopeless "lost cause" bullshit to bed? Or are its eminently predictable results only going to remain obvious long enough for another temporary reprieve?
- gizajob 25d agoNo, because now they think they’re going to get $5000 of free money the day after the election.
- randusername 25d agoLately I've been making a conscious effort to flip my coordinate system around on inflation. Instead of tracking cost increases of fuel, I try to conceptualize prices for all things in equivalent fuel or metered energy. The fed can overlook energy and food in their "preferred metric of inflation", but that's 90% of what I care about as an individual. Very interesting to track your purchasing power in MWh
- addaon 25d agoI’ve been doing something similar, tracking the price of technology purchase in terms of AAPL shares for 20+ years. It’s amazing how much cheaper computers have gotten!
- deleted 25d ago[deleted]
- ssijak 25d agoIts weird that american people never protest anything in big masses, or at least its very rare and almost never happens for core livelihood issues (wars, cost of living, corrupt politics...). It's so different compared to Europe, and I was always wondering why. Is it better propaganda machine or?
- tty456 25d agoThe No Kings rallies are pretty massive
- lux-lux-lux 25d agoNot just massive, they were the largest single-day protests in US history, each exceeding the last. The problem is that they didn’t move the needle at all, politically - the Oct 2025 protest, for example, was followed immediately by the embarrassing capitulation by the Dems on the shutdown. This is the real reason protest in the US is relatively rare: the political class has thoroughly insulated itself from it.
- walthamstow 25d agoEurope contains Britain and several other countries who hardly ever protest anything. We're not all France.
- Nifty3929 24d agoAmericans are too busy working for all that. Their GDP per capita is almost double leading EU countries, except for a couple of outliers like Ireland and Switzerland. You can complain about what you don't have, or you can work to produce it. Then again, Americans are sometimes called workaholics, working far more hours. So in some ways this is just a lifestyle choice.
- throw0101d 25d agoA possibly useful list for comparison: * https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/diesel_prices/ https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/diesel_prices/ * https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices/ https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices/
- gib444 25d agoMore expensive fuel, spy cameras everywhere, President acting like a mad King... the USA will need another revolution as it's turning into England :D
- ChrisArchitect 25d ago[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49655012 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49655012
- time4tea 25d agoCheap!! USD6/gallon is about GBP1.17/litre, but actual price in UK is GBP1.97/litre
- magicalhippo 25d agoCheap! GBP 1.97/liter is NOK 24.76/liter, while actual price in Norway is NOK 26.98/liter on average today (USD 10.98/gallon).