Trump Administration Presses Refiners to Raise Diesel Output

The Trump administration is pressing U.S. and overseas refiners to produce more diesel as rising fuel costs add to the expense of moving goods and inflation pressure.

On Oct. 19, the U.S. average for on-highway diesel was $6.276 a gallon, a weekly increase of $0.097. Regular gasoline averaged $4.284 per gallon that day. For the week through Oct. 9, U.S. refineries ran at 93.5% of operable capacity.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright is also discussing whether closed U.S. refineries can restart. “We are talking about reopening every refinery we can,” Wright said in Houston on Oct. 20. He cautioned that some restarts may not happen.

A White House determination issued April 20 made federal support available for domestic refinery expansion under the Defense Production Act. The current talks have no announced diesel output target.

On Oct. 15, members of the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed to speed up emergency stock releases they had already pledged. Their plans include more than 20 million barrels of diesel, and they encouraged countries with refining capacity to increase supply. Diesel powers trucking, agriculture and heavy industry, so sustained price pressure can raise the cost of moving and producing goods.