Why is the supply of diesel so low?
Gasoline and jet fuel demand evaporated overnight. And some companies closed around 1 million barrels per day of refining capacity during the pandemic. And that has created a shortfall in the ability to make gasoline and diesel at a time of resurgent demand.
What's Causing the Shortage? There are major constraints globally on refining capacity. Supplies of crude oil are already fairly tight. But the bottleneck is much more acute when it comes to turning that raw commodity into fuels like diesel and gasoline.
Last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that distillate inventories (which include diesel) were at their lowest levels since 1951—currently we only have a 27-day supply remaining.
While the diesel shortage won't affect consumers at the pump, it could squeeze them in store aisles. If logistics and delivery services are paying more for fuel, some of those increased costs will be passed down to shoppers, and could exacerbate inflation in the near term and throughout the holiday season.
A downturn in the trucking and rail industries is one of the reasons the price of diesel has fallen by about one-third in the last six months. Cheaper fuel prices could help cool the rate of inflation and provide some relief to consumers.
High Taxes on Diesel Make Diesel Cars and Trucks Unappealing
The taxes on diesel are considerably higher than the taxes on gasoline. A diesel engine will travel between 25% and 35% farther than a gasoline engine of comparable size on a single gallon of fuel.
American Consumer Attitude Towards Diesel Engines
The pump price of diesel is far more expensive than gasoline; even more than the premium fuel option. The savings of a diesel engine come with the fuel economy over the life of the engine. A diesel engine costs more to build and is more expensive to purchase.
If you haven't picked up on it yet, diesel isn't going anywhere anytime soon. With the millions of diesel vehicles on the road and even cleaner diesel powertrain technology around the corner, there's still a large demand for diesel engines. When we look ahead, the future is about balance and diversification.
No, We Aren't Running Out of Diesel Fuel — But Low Stockpiles Mean Higher Prices - Fuel Smarts - Trucking Info.
The News. California state regulators approved on Friday a ban on the sale of new big rigs and buses that run on diesel by 2036, going beyond the federal government in issuing requirements to reduce emissions and setting the stage for other states to follow suit.
Is there a future for diesel?
Some car industry observers think this is ambitious, but either way, in a few years years, there won't be many diesel cars on sale. They will survive beyond that, but by 2050 they could well be a rarity. We have a wide range of quality used diesel cars available, so why not take a look?
Studies have determined within 28 days of storage diesel fuel #2 begins to become contaminated and start to degrade. Diesel fuel can only be stored from 6 to 12 months on average — sometimes longer under the best conditions.
People weren't driving as much, so refineries weren't making as much gas and diesel fuel as usual. But freight and delivery trucks use diesel. And there was still plenty of demand for diesel from shipping companies, lest we forget all the online shopping that happened during the pandemic.
We forecast that retail prices for regular-grade gasoline will average $3.32 per gallon (gal) in 2023 and continue to decrease to average $3.09/gal in 2024, down from $3.96/gal in 2022. We expect on-highway diesel prices to decrease to average $4.23/gal in 2023 before decreasing further to $3.70/gal in 2024.
In the early 2000s, changes to demand and fuel emission standards made the historically-cheaper diesel fuel more expensive than gasoline. The trend likely won't change in the foreseeable future.
Diesel engines are typically much more fuel-efficient than gas engines, even those with very high compression ratios. Diesel fuel is also more energy-dense than gasoline, meaning more energy per gallon. As a result, it's not uncommon for a diesel-powered car to get 50 mpg or higher.
The five states consuming the most diesel fuel – California, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas – consume 11 billion gallons of diesel fuel, which is 30 percent of diesel vehicle fuel consumption nationwide.
California has one of the highest fuel and diesel fuel prices in the United States.
Most of the diesel fuel produced and consumed in the United States is refined from crude oil at petroleum refineries. U.S. petroleum refineries produce an average of 11 to 12 gallons of diesel fuel from each 42-gallon (U.S.) barrel of crude oil. The United States also produces and consumes biomass-based diesel fuels.
Ultimately, the export of diesel is due to economics, with companies able to sell their products for a higher price abroad.
Why do trucks use diesel instead of gas?
The reason why they use diesel in large vehicles rather than petrol is torque. Diesel has greater compression resistance than gasoline. Because diesel fuel has more compressive resistance than gasoline, diesel engines can be compression-fired engines. Gasoline engines can not.
In its April STEO, the EIA saw the U.S. on-highway diesel price averaging $4.11 per gallon in 2023 and $3.87 per gallon in 2024. The latest EIA STEO highlighted that the 2022 retail gasoline and diesel price averaged $3.97 per gallon and $5.02 per gallon, respectively.
As the 2030 ban on petrol and diesel cars only impacts new cars, you will still be able to buy and sell used petrol and diesel cars after 2030. So, should you choose to change to another petrol or diesel car, as long as it's pre-loved, you can still buy another car without moving to electric or hybrids.
The move comes 25 years after California declared diesel exhaust a dangerous, toxic contaminant because it contains more than 40 chemicals linked to cancer. While diesel engines have been getting cleaner for decades under California's earlier rules, they are still a major source of air pollution and greenhouse gases.
California, which has created rules barring the sale of new gasoline- and diesel-powered passenger vehicles in the state by 2035, will also require all medium- and heavy-duty trucks operating there to be zero-emission, emitting no harmful exhaust, by 2045.
Starting in 2035, California will prohibit the sale of new gas-powered cars. A measure approved by the California Air Resources Board requires all new cars, SUVs and pickup trucks sold in the state to generate zero tailpipe emissions by then.
In August of 2022, California announced that it will phase out gasoline-powered cars by 2035 to reduce demand for fossil fuels responsible for human health hazards and climate-warming emissions.
At 1,688,000,000,000 barrels of crude oil, the Earth has 442,095,238,095 gallons of diesel fuel left. Assuming a mileage of 5.5 MPG, diesel fuel trucks have enough fuel left inside the planet to travel 2,431,523,809,524 miles. The estimate is enough to travel from the Earth to the sun and back again over 13,000 times.
Classic cars are not being banned, but it's likely the next few decades will see a shift that may eventually present a challenge for classic car drivers.
Yes. Any type of tank, whether gas or diesel, should be kept as full as possible. This is one way to reduce water level on the tank's interior, by providing less surface area for water condensation.
Is 2 year old diesel still good?
As for diesel, it can remain usable for between six and 12 months before becoming 'gummy' which, if used, can clog up filters and cause you issues with your engine.
Is diesel better than gas? While diesel trucks tend to offer more torque, more towing power, higher gas mileage, and longer-lasting performance, gas trucks are generally lighter, faster, and better at handling heavy payloads. Ultimately, your choice will depend completely on your needs.
It's true that normal diesel fuel is easier to refine than gasoline, however, most diesel in the U.S. is now lower-sulfur diesel fuel. That increases production and distribution costs. That's just one reason the U.S. Energy Information Administration gives for why diesel is more expensive.
Diesel fuel (refined from crude oil) produces many harmful emissions when it is burned, and diesel-fueled vehicles are major sources of harmful pollutants, such as ground-level ozone and particulate matter.
The transition to less polluting, lower-sulfur diesel fuels in the United States affected diesel fuel production and distribution costs. The federal excise tax for on-highway diesel fuel of 24.3 cents per gallon is 6 cents per gallon higher than the federal excise tax on gasoline.
Diesel taxes are higher because the primary vehicles with diesel engines, freight trucks and buses, are substantially heavier and deteriorate roads considerably more than the average automobile.
Since 2005, diesel fuel has become the more expensive product.
Better mileage – Improved fuel economy is a big selling point for diesel engines. Diesels can achieve 25-30% better mileage than a gas engine due to the higher efficiency of diesel fuel, while the direct fuel injection during the combustion process wastes little fuel.
It is produced from the fractional distillation of crude oil between 200 and 350 °C (392 and 662 °F) at atmospheric pressure, resulting in a mixture of carbon chains that typically contain between 9 and 25 carbon atoms per molecule.
Cons of diesel cars
Diesel fuel usually costs more. Servicing can be more expensive, although you don't need to do it as often. Diesel cars produce a lot more NO2. Diesel engines can be slightly noisier.
What are the cons of diesel engines?
CON: Diesels still need regular maintenance to keep them running. You have to change the oil and the air, oil, and fuel filters. Cleaner diesel fuels no longer require you to bleed excess water out of the system, but many vehicles still have water separators that need to be emptied manually.
In other words, for every 6.5 to 7.5 miles, a gasoline-powered vehicle travels on a gallon of fuel, a diesel powered engine will travel 10.
At what temp does diesel freeze? It's right at the freezing mark, 32ºF, that the paraffin in diesel fuel begins to stiffen, leaving the fuel tank clouded. Although this change won't prevent you from driving, it serves as a warning to start using an Anti-Gel. It will hurt your mileage.
It's true that normal diesel fuel is easier to refine than gasoline, however, most diesel in the U.S. is now lower-sulfur diesel fuel. That increases production and distribution costs. That's just one reason the U.S. Energy Information Administration gives for why diesel is more expensive.
We estimate that renewable diesel production in 2022 averaged 97,000 b/d, an increase of 41,000 b/d (73%) from 2021.
Gasoline is a more refined petroleum product than diesel; thus, the production cost of diesel reflects a reduced level of refinement. But why is diesel more expensive? Explore the factors that influence the cost of diesel.
Yes. Any type of tank, whether gas or diesel, should be kept as full as possible. This is one way to reduce water level on the tank's interior, by providing less surface area for water condensation.
Allow Time to Warm Up the Engine
In order to start a diesel engine and keep it running in cold weather, you must make sure you allow plenty of time for your engine to warm up. If you do not let your engine warm up before driving, you will make it work harder than necessary, which will lead to problems later on.
The more cold-starts your diesel is subjected to, the shorter its lifespan will be. Inconsistent metal expansion and poor-flowing (thick) lubricants don't provide protection from moving parts. Another thing to worry about is fuel washing the cylinder walls before compression ignition can occur.
Diesel is made up of hydrocarbons that can solidify when the temperature drops to 40 degrees below Fahrenheit. When this happens in the winter, the fuel becomes gelatinous, and the truck will not start properly. The gel-like fuel cannot flow through filters and properly start the engine.
What are the disadvantages of diesel?
Cons of diesel cars
Diesel fuel usually costs more. Servicing can be more expensive, although you don't need to do it as often. Diesel cars produce a lot more NO2. Diesel engines can be slightly noisier.
