Price of diesel

This summer the price of primeium gas and diesel were pennies apart. While the price of gas has dropped since then diesel has stayed about the same here in NC. Is this just another case of the oil companies being greedy or is there actual technical reasons for the high price?

Diesel prices are sticky (slow to rise and fall). In addition IIRC diesel pays a slightly higher fed or state tax when compared to gasoline.

In my neck of the woods diesel was closer to Mid Grade last summer.Historically,diesel is more expensive in the colder weather than in summer because of the home heating oil which is used extensively in the Northeast and,obviously,is in greatest demand from October to March or April.

Diesel price is "sticky" because much of the demand is commercial and doesn't vary as much as personal use.

In Bay Area, the diesel costs more than Premium Gas currently by about $0.30 per gallon. It has been stick for a while. I believe it has to do with lack of demand. As the result, you get fewer update in price until the next fill. The gas station with more frequent visit of diesel tends to follow the gasoline price better. Still, it is more expensive than gas per gallon. Factoring in that 15% advantage, it is still economical to drive.

Yesterday I noticed several stations in San Francisco -- along 19th ave -- with diesel at .40 cents a gallon higher than premium.

Refining cost and demand of Diesel and Gasoline is not the same therefore at stations that cater to trucks or logistics business you will find diesel price to be either lower or closer to gasoline. Station with low volume of diesel sale it won't change as often as gasoline. Gasoline prices change as commodity trading and crude oil price fluctuates but diesel is purchased by the vendor/franchisee in bulk at a fix price hence no change. Hope this makes sense. Up here in Canada or at least southern Ontario diesel is 5 -6 cents per liter meaning 12 - 15 cents per gallon cheaper than gasoline most of the time.

Originally Posted by UncleJ

Yesterday I noticed several stations in San Francisco -- along 19th ave -- with diesel at .40 cents a gallon higher than premium.

I notice they are always hugely above - I'd never subsidize that! I typically go to the 76 in the Mission or to 3rd & Evans for the best prices (or East Bay).

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Bimmer App

We are exporting more diesel fuel than gasoline, refining more crude oil to meet diesel demand, and producing an excess of gasoline as a byproduct as a result. This actually drives the price of gasoline down, as well as the fact that the East Coast imports gasoline from European producers. The fact that we now have required Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel fuel makes our refineries' product more marketable for export has made the diesel/gasoline price comparison lopsided. See this report from Exxon-Mobil:

How does this work? Many Gulf Coast refiners are responding to the strong global demand for distillates by maximizing production of diesel fuel. They therefore buy and refine more barrels of oil than they would without that market demand for diesel. U.S. refiners can only get so much distillate from a barrel of crude oil – roughly 11 gallons out of a typical 42-gallon barrel, according to EIA data. Every barrel also yields about 19 gallons of gasoline. So when refiners process extra barrels in an attempt to help meet diesel fuel sales in the U.S. and overseas, they are coproducing extra gallons of gasoline. And given the American market is already well supplied with gasoline, that extra production helps put downward pressure on prices in the United States.

PL

Diesel here in NJ is $3.79/gal at HESS, but ranges as high as $4.09, while 93 octane gas at Sunoco is $3.98.

Gasoline was once a waste product of kerosene production: http://www.wotwaste.com/waste-articl...-waste-product

"Before the automobile, nobody knew what to do with the light fraction of crude oil known as gasoline, and many refiners, under cover of dark, let the waste product run into the river. The noxious runoff made the Cuyahoga River so flammable that if steamboat captains shovelled glowing coals overboard, the water erupted in flames." Titan: The Life of John D Rockefeller, Ron Chernow, Random House, 1998

PL

Thank you gentlemen for the education. Here, in Raleigh diesel is running 30 to 35 cents more then 93 octane. I paid basicly 4 bucks a gallon all summer and so it continues.

I would think that home heating season is upon us also so demand for oil in the cooler states is on the rise.

Inventories of distillate fuel remain below seasonally typical levels in the Northeast, a region that includes New England and the Middle Atlantic states. Stocks of distillate fuel, including both diesel fuel and heating oil, are closely watched in this region, which is home to 80 percent of U.S. households that consume heating oil. As discussed in the October 11 edition of This Week in Petroleum (TWIP), the pull on distillate supplies from global markets and backwardation in heating oil prices for future delivery have both discouraged inventory builds in the Northeast. More recently, Hurricane Sandy disrupted shipments of petroleum products into the Northeast, further limiting distillate inventory builds. However, additional distillate fuel supplies are likely to become available in the region over the coming weeks with the restart of refineries in the New York Harbor area and an increase in shipments from the Gulf Coast.

http://www.eia.gov/oog/info/twip/twip.asp

Earlier this year, maybe 2 months ago or so- D was the cheapest fuel on the station's number board;
less expensive than even the regular gasoline. That was a nice change (here in east San Diego county.)
But now diesel has migrated back to above Premium gas by 4 to 10 cents/gal. Another oddity- the little
off brand mom 'n pop station that usually had the cheapest diesel sells at exactly the same as mighty
Chevron. So I always opt for the Chevron. BTW, getting terrific highway mileage lately with that fuel;
did a 300 mile fwy trip and the car's computer was telling me 37.9 and seemed to be ready to click to 38.
So I'm happy with my 335d; running stronger and smoother all the time!

Aside: Regarding the Cuyahoga River story above- songwriter Randy Newman wrote a very ironic,
and funny song about it on an album (late 60s-early 70s I think.) The song was called BURN ON BIG RIVER.
Still play that "record."

I'm getting sick of paying so much for diesel, honestly. It's a good $.40/gallon more. Sometimes more than that. On my trip to Augusta for thanksgiving, in SC, diesel was almost $1.00/gallon more than regular unleaded. We were driving my 335d for the fuel economy over my wife's SUV but at that type of price delta, it is not any cheaper if at all. I ran the numbers and I could be driving a nice spacious grand Cherokee for about the same cost per mile as my 335d. I know I didn't buy it to save money but...

I just need to get a JBD and remember why I did buy it!

I paid $3.959 yesterday and regular gas was around $3.459, so $0.50 cheaper.

That is about 13% cheaper but you are still getting 20-30% more mpg for a comparable gas car, so it still "pays". Plus what is all that extra torque worth???

Originally Posted by torifile

I'm getting sick of paying so much for diesel, honestly. It's a good $.40/gallon more. Sometimes more than that. On my trip to Augusta for thanksgiving, in SC, diesel was almost $1.00/gallon more than regular unleaded. We were driving my 335d for the fuel economy over my wife's SUV but at that type of price delta, it is not any cheaper if at all. I ran the numbers and I could be driving a nice spacious grand Cherokee for about the same cost per mile as my 335d. I know I didn't buy it to save money but...

I just need to get a JBD and remember why I did buy it!

2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee: 17.9 mpg
2011 BMW 335d: 30.8 mpg

Cost to go 1000 miles:

[($3/gal)/(17.9 miles/gal)]x1000 miles = $167.60 for the Jeep
[($4/gal)/(30.8 miles/gal)]x1000 miles = $129.87 for the BMW

If you look just at highway mpg, the BMW may do even better.

PL

Originally Posted by Pierre Louis

2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee: 17.9 mpg
2011 BMW 335d: 30.8 mpg

Cost to go 1000 miles:

[($3/gal)/(17.9 miles/gal)]x1000 miles = $167.60 for the Jeep
[($4/gal)/(30.8 miles/gal)]x1000 miles = $129.87 for the BMW

If you look just at highway mpg, the BMW may do even better.

PL

Unfortunately, I've never even approach upper 20's MPG in my car. I'm more like 24 or so.... I do lots of city driving so the numbers for both vehicles are on the high side. I suspect I'd get something like 16 in the GC. That would put me at about $187.5/1000 miles and $166/1000 miles in the GC and 335d respectively.

If I got the EPA estimates on both vehicles, however, it'd be cheaper to drive the GC.

That said, there's no way I'm going to do that trade. My wife has an SUV. We don't need two.

Originally Posted by torifile

Unfortunately, I've never even approach upper 20's MPG in my car. I'm more like 24 or so.... I do lots of city driving so the numbers for both vehicles are on the high side. I suspect I'd get something like 16 in the GC. That would put me at about $187.5/1000 miles and $166/1000 miles in the GC and 335d respectively.

If I got the EPA estimates on both vehicles, however, it'd be cheaper to drive the GC.

That said, there's no way I'm going to do that trade. My wife has an SUV. We don't need two.

EPA city/highway/combined:

2012 Jeep GC 2wd w/6 cylinder: 17/23/19
2011 BMW 335d: 23/36/27

Cost of going 1000 miles w/ regular at $3 and diesel at $4:

Jeep: $176.47/130.43/157.89
BMW: $173.91/111.11/148.15

But the EPA is off by up to 20% in favor of gasoline vehicles, so the www.fuelly.com data is more realistic. If you get the V8 Jeep with 4WD, all bets are for the BMW.

PL

Originally Posted by Flyingman

I paid $3.959 yesterday and regular gas was around $3.459, so $0.50 cheaper.

That is about 13% cheaper but you are still getting 20-30% more mpg for a comparable gas car, so it still "pays". Plus what is all that extra torque worth???

That is strange because diesel here is not much less than that but 87 octane gasoline here can be found under $3.00 ... Matter of fact just this morning a friend of mine was all super excited to be paying $2.75 for his gasoline ... he needs more excitement in his life.

Originally Posted by Flyingman

I paid $3.959 yesterday and regular gas was around $3.459, so $0.50 cheaper.

That is about 13% cheaper but you are still getting 20-30% more mpg for a comparable gas car, so it still "pays". Plus what is all that extra torque worth???

A comparable gas car takes premium not regular. The price difference around here is about $.19.

PL

Originally Posted by Pierre Louis

A comparable gas car takes premium not regular. The price difference around here is about $.19.

PL

+1
If you didnt get 335d you might have got something which drinks premium 91 octane fuel. So comparing to 87 gas doesnt make much of sense.

Agreed, very few gas cars that make decent power and run on 87 octane. Only one that even comes to mind is I think the newer 5.0L Mustangs made for the past few years but I could even be wrong on those.

I haven't driven a gasser in 7 years so I'm out of the loop with cars that use regular gas. Is it really the case that any high-ish performance car will require mid grade or premium? I didn't not know that.... But the fact remains, diesel is lousy expensive right now.