Fuel Prices Move Higher Due To Domestic Issues

Fuel prices across the board increased in the past week, but the main contributing factor wasn’t the trade war with China, or tensions with Iran, but domestic issues. Patrick DeHaan with Gasbuddy.com says the federal government reported an unexpected drop in oil and diesel inventory. And on top of that wildfires, wind and blackout issues in California have led to several fuel problems up and down the west coast. DeHaan noted it’s not unusual to see higher diesel prices as we get closer to the holidays.

“It is the time of year that diesel, that distillate fuel, generally does start to go up, as we see the peak of distillate season in the winter, unlike summer, which is the peak for gasoline.”

But he said there was nothing normal about the increases we saw this week. The national average for a gallon of diesel was unchanged, at $3.00, while Washington’s diesel price jumped up 12 cents to $3.51 a gallon, while Oregon’s rate shot up 14 cents to $3.44 a gallon. And in case that wasn’t enough, if the Administration is able to bring the trade war with China to an end, DeHaan expects fuel prices to climb considerably.

“It’s certainly a chance in rhetoric we’ve seen from both sides, to fan the fires so to speak. Any deal would be good news, and President Trump eluding to the fact that this so called Phase One deal between the U.S. and China maybe just around the corner, and oil prices are certainly reacting last seen as a result of some of that optimism.”

Here are some of the lowest diesel prices we could find across the region.