Since the start of 2022, the Energy Information Administration's reported average price for a gallon of gasoline has climbed from $3.14 to $3.49, with the most common gas price in America right now at $2.99. Diesel, on the other hand, climbed over the same period from $3.61 to $5.31, or about a 38% jump while gasoline only moved a bit more than 10%.
But compared to gasoline, diesel is a less-refined product, and for decades, up until about 2004, it fetched a lower price. Outside of a few fleeting moments, diesel has been more expensive than gas ever since. GlobalPetrolPrices.com writes that gasoline costs more than diesel in 84% of the 161 countries it tracks, with diesel in most on average 9.8% cheaper. (Recent price swings may have moved those figures a bit.)
So why would a product that's easier to make, that's more vital to essential economic activities like construction, farming, and yes, trucking, sell at a premium to one that's harder to make? And why do four-wheelers seem to make out on the deal?
[Related: Only 25 days of diesel left? What to make of low inventories]
The EIA pins the answer on three main causes: Diesel demand has grown, transitioning to lower-sulfur diesels has impacted fuel production costs, and the federal excise tax for on-highway diesel sits at 24.3 cents per gallon while it's only 6 cents on gasoline.
But that sub-18 cent tax premium on diesel hardly explains the yawning chasm between the two prices in today's world, and ideally a free market would adapt to industry and demand changes to provide diesel at a lower cost.
Tom Kloza, the global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service, said that the answer to expensive diesel starts with the barrel of crude oil itself.
