New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Diesel fuel prices in the US have risen beyond their post-COVID peak to a high of $6.285/gallon (124p/L) on 14 September, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Diesel, jet fuel and petrochemical feedstocks are the oil commodities most affected by the continuing closure of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) latest September oil market report.
The prices have increased pressure on politicians. On 14 September President Trump reportedly said: ‘Mr Zelenskyy has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia. Let him go after targets but not diesel fuel because he’s causing a shortage of diesel.’
According to the IEA, more than 10mn b/d of Persian Gulf oil production remained shut in. In August, global oil production fell to 100.1mn b/d. In the same month, refining was 4.2mn b/d lower than a year ago, with losses spread across the Middle East, Russia and Asian crude oil importers.
Net exports of diesel/gasoil from Gulf countries in August were a quarter of pre-war levels, and total oil exports nearly half pre-war levels, according to the IEA report. It did add that disruptions to Russia’s refineries and a halt to exports after Ukrainian attacks have had an impact. The report also notes that net diesel/gasoil exports from the Gulf and Russia were 1.6mn b/d lower than in February 2026.
It concludes: ‘Steep losses of petrochemical feedstocks and refined product supplies, along with higher fuel prices, notably for diesel, will continue to weigh on consumption.’
The IEA predicts that world oil supply will have fallen by 5.7mn b/d at the end of the year, while demand will have declined by 2.5mn b/d in 2026. Stored global oil inventories have fallen by 507mn b, or 2.8mn b/d.
The oil export situation worsened last week as Saudi Arabia closed the East-West pipeline to Yanbu in the Red Sea because of attacks which had damaged it. Saudi Arabia had been diverting oil supplies through the pipeline, away from the Persian Gulf, but in recent weeks Houthi rebels in Yemen have been disrupting shipping in the Bab-el-Mendab Strait. A report by Rystad Energy said that the pipeline crude and condensate throughput averaged between 2.6mn b/d and 4mn b/d in early September.
UK and US diesel prices – in September US diesel prices exceeded earlier rises in April 2026 and July 2022, although so far UK prices have not... yet
Sources: US Energy Information Administration and UK government’s Energy Prices Statistics Team
