Free Republic

Distillate levels in the United States have plummeted to the lowest levels since 2008.. Low distillate inventories have sent diesel prices soaring. ... The primary distillates are diesel, jet fuel ,and heating oil). However, in 2008 distillate levels were low coming out of spring. Currently, they are low going into fall. That’s far worse than the situation in 2008. Distillate demand generally spikes in spring — when farmers are planting crops — and in fall, when they are harvesting those crops and people start buying fuel oil for winter. Thus, a low distillate inventory in late April 2008 isn’t quite...

Inflation is a multi-headed hydra (from Greek Mythology). It is composed of 1) monetary stimulus (that The Fed is slowly withdrawing), 2) massive, reckless Federal spending and 3) Biden’s anti-fossil fuel mandates. So, when the inflation numbers are out later this week, it will be fun to dissect the damage being done to the US economy and middle-class/low-wage workers. Take Los Angeles, for example. The life blood of the shipping industry, diesel fuel, is UP 176% under Biden, despite declining for a short period of time. And the DOE Strategic Petroleum Reserve is DOWN -34.7% under Biden.

Diesel prices are setting records, nationwide, as a gallon of the fuel now averages $5.72 as of Wednesday. Drivers fueling up at a truck stop in east Houston said the pain at the pump is crippling as rising prices force some to park their rigs. Houstonian Raymond Mayberry said he’s been a truck driver since 2003. He’s a self-employed trucker. Even with the help of fuel-saving apps and a rewards program at the truck stop, Mayberry said he’s counting “every penny” because the almost-daily rise in diesel price affects his bottom line. “It comes out of our profit. If you...

Two weeks ago the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said national average diesel prices were just 0.1 shy of tying the record high. Last week diesel prices did a 15.9-cent leapfrog over that old record to set the Gasoline prices last week rose a comparable 18.2 cents. New record-setting highs in crude oil prices coupled with scattered refinery outages during the peak summer season has resulted in the steep increases in on-highway fuel. Truckers operating in all regions were given a price shock, but the West Coast and California regions, which had been slammed with skyrocketing fuel prices over the last...