Don’t think this has been asked.
I know that the falling price of oil has led to a fall in the price of regular gasoline.
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'Why not a corresponding drop in the price of diesel?
probably due in part to differences in refinery processes. In the U.S. refineries are geared towards producing gasoline (catalytic cracking.) Elsewhere, where middle distillates (kerosene/diesel/jet fuel) are in demand, hydrocracking is the norm.
UK-side, diesel prices *have *fallen in step with petrol. Still a few pence higher as it is taxed even more.
In Northern Ohio the price of gasoline has dropped to $1.99/gal. Diesel is still in the $3.50/gal range.
Federal/State tax in Ohio is 46.4 cents/gal on gasoline and 52.4 cents/gal on diesel.
Diesel fuel is basically the same thing as home heating oil. One of the reasons that I have heard for the price of diesel remaining high is that it is winter, and the demand for home heating oil is high enough that it is keeping the price of diesel high along with it.
Diesel fuel and gasoline used to track fairly close together, but in the last decade or so they have become much more independent of each other in the marketplace. It’s not that uncommon for one to rise while the other falls and vice-versa. Some folks are predicting that once the weather starts warming up in the spring, the price of gasoline will increase due to increased agricultural demands where the price of diesel is likely to drop due to the drop in home heating oil demands.
Here’s one explanation (from two years ago but still applicable).
It all still applies. North American oil results in more gasoline than diesel while demand for diesel grows more than demand for gasoline.
Diesel’s 2 year US avg price peak was $4.11 in Feb 2013 and is now $3.65. Gasoline’s was $3.71 in March 2013 and is now $2.91.
Diesel used to always be cheaper than gasoline, then when gas prices started rising in the 2000s diesel did too. It surpassed the price of gasoline and has stayed higher for many years.
As I recall it, the price of diesel lagged significantly behind the price of gas when prices started rising in southern CA around 2000-2001. There seemed to be a brief boom in the sale of diesel autos during that period.
Not so according to this 2008 factcheck.
From at least 1994 on diesel was more often more costly than cheaper than gasoline. Traditionally there had been seasonal variability:
Again, the same explanations for the price differential given then are all the more true now. Gasoline is experiencing less increase in demand than increase in supply as cars become significantly more efficient while North American oil preferentially produces more gasoline than diesel (given its “sweetness”) increasing the supply dramatically. Diesel supply is not increasing as much and demand for it is increasing more significantly.
That doesn’t pass my smell test; what agricultural equipment runs on gasoline? Everything I’ve heard of runs on diesel.
In 2006, the Federal mandated ULSD (Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel) for all highway use. This increases the refining costs as additional processing is needed to reduce the sulfur content. In addition, additional additives are needed to compensate for the lower lubricity resulting from the lower sulfur content.
Now, this is not the only factor, just one I have not seen mentioned, yet.
I had the same thought. Crop dusters? That’s all I can think of other than four-wheelers and a few old combines and grain trucks.
And the second of those “fun resources” links shows the relative fraction of cost in a graphic. Refining is 6% of the current average pump cost for regular gasoline and 13% for diesel. Not sure why the difference in distribution and marketing - 17% of the current average pump cost for gasoline and 24% for diesel. And note, those diesel figures are percents of a higher number. It translates to those refining, distribution and marketing costs being a fairly inelastic about $0.67/gallon for gasoline and $1.35 for diesel, about twice as much. Bottom line is that your point is well made: the pump price of diesel is less contingent on the cost of the raw material than gasoline is, as more of its pump price is in the higher refining, distribution, and marketing expenses.
Crop dusters use avgas, which isn’t the same stuff used in authomobiles.
And it has lead in it.