Oct 28, 2022
Count Down to Diesel Drought
BY Sandy Lender
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is a source I trust for reliable numbers on petroleum reserves, crude oil pricing, heating fuel fluctuations, and gas and diesel fuel updates. The news pundits today tend to spin data to fit the narrative-of-the-week, so I went back to the EIA data for this blog post. From what I could surmise, news pundits have finally picked up on the story of diesel supply versus demand that’s been percolating for months.
At this time, it appears on-highway diesel prices may see a spike due to not only a shortage, but due to the United States running out of diesel product in coming days. Without commenting on the causes, some of which you can listen to at this link, I’ll offer a couple of links for more information for those of you finishing up construction projects here at end-of-season.
As a side note to the veracity of the danger of a “diesel drought,” please note that various news pundits have reported since last weekend—the 22nd and 23rd—that the United States has 25 days of diesel supply remaining. Four to five days later, I’m still reading that number, unchanged, in various sources. I see the wisdom in being aware of the uptick in the diesel story coverage, but I urge caution in your doomsday planning.
For pricing and trends, I recommend this website.
For an opinion with “solutions” we may or may not find asinine, check out this Reuters article.