The national average price of diesel reached $6.2301 a gallon on September 14, according to AAA, setting a new nominal record. The average was $5.9015 a week earlier and $3.6923 a year earlier—an increase of about 33 cents in one week and nearly 69 percent year over year.
Stat Crux Report’s September 14 X post cited a $6.06 national average, reflecting an earlier reading as prices moved rapidly. AAA’s live table later that day showed $6.2301. The regular-gasoline average was $4.3163, a separate figure that should not be confused with diesel.
State averages varied sharply. AAA listed diesel at $8.1544 in California, $7.2238 in Washington and $6.9341 in Hawaii. The same state pages listed $5.8313 in Wyoming, $5.8396 in Texas and $5.8415 in Oklahoma. These are statewide averages, not prices at every station.
Reuters reported that Exxon Mobil’s 264,000-barrel-per-day Joliet, Illinois, refinery shut after a September 13 power outage. The company was assessing the refinery while IIR Energy expected normal operations to resume by the end of the week. Reuters said tight global fuel supplies also reflected the Iran war, Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries and strong U.S. exports.
The Wall Street Journal reported that diesel first broke above $6 on September 11 and had risen more than 60 percent over the preceding year. Higher diesel costs can reach consumers through freight, farming and construction, but the available data do not assign the entire increase to one conflict or one refinery outage. AAA’s record is a current-dollar retail average, not an inflation-adjusted measure.
