Seventy percent of the nation's goods are transported
in diesel-powered vehicles, helping to make it America's primary
commercial fuel.
1.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND: DIESEL
Crude oil is the source of a number of important fuels,
including gasoline, heating oil and diesel. Because these
fuels all have the same starting point, refineries must decide
what to produce when, based on a mix of supply and demand
calculations.
WHAT
INFLUENCES PRICES?
As with gasoline, the major components of diesel fuel prices
are the cost of crude oil to refiners, federal and state taxes,
and the cost to manufacture, distribute, and market the diesel
fuel. Diesel prices generally reflect price trends for crude
oil. Short-run factors that also affect prices include supply
shortages resulting from refinery outages, transportation
issues, adverse weather conditions, or pipeline problems.
Sulfur
occurs naturally in crude oil and sulfur removal is an increasingly
important part of the diesel refining process. Over the past
decade, American refineries have cut diesel's sulfur content
dramatically, yielding significant reductions in vehicle emissions.
