WHY is Deisel fuel so much higher compared to the past than gas is?

[napi21]

I was shocked when I read about Deisel selling for $4.75+/gal. Are the oil companies pissed off at the truckers sor some reason?

[jgraz]

1. To keep people from switching to diesel cars.

Once you switch to diesel, you can run your car on biodiesel (or just plain cooking oil with a few conversions).

One of the first things Ford did when they bought Volvo is to cancel any US release of diesel cars. I even tried to buy one in Sweden and was told that I could not get it serviced in the US.

[Lance_Boyle]

6. Mercedes agrees with you.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/mercedes-exec-says-big-oil-conspiring-to-kill-us-diesel-market.html#more-7725

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=216681

[Bonhomme Richard]

10. It"s what I always thought.

Seems to me that as soon as people started buying diesel cars the price went right up.
I thought it was cheaper to refine.

[dysfunctional press]

2. iraq is one BIG reason.

the military sucks down A LOT of diesel.

[Ikonoklast]

8. Single biggest user of diesel in the WORLD

The U.S. Armed Forces.
The U.S. government in total is the single biggest user of refined petroleum products on Earth.

When there is a war, they suck up any excess ceapacity on the world market.

And since Europe and to a lesser extent Asia are bigger users of diesel for personal transportation, and are willing to pay more, guess who is buying refined diesel on the world market, driving up domestic prices?

[NightWatcher]

3. they claim it is because there is not enough room at the refineries to do gas and diesel

but the funny thing is that diesel requires less refining than unleaded gas for cars. They are charging more because they know they can get it from the truckers who will be forced to add a fuel surcharge and pass it on to the consumers.

[EOTE]

4. Isn't diesel also cheaper to refine than standard petrol?

That would seem to put a big black eye into the suggestion that the rising costs we've been experiencing have all been supply issues.

[KamaAina]

12. As would the fact that much of the mainland is now paying more for gas than we are

we're around 4.25-4.30 right in Honolulu.

If you've ever been here, you know that nothing (besides pineapple juice, Kona coffee, etc.) costs less in Hawai'i than it does on the mainland. Clearly, something's up. :tinfoilhat:

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

5. Is there only so much potential diesel in a barrel of oil?

At first, I thought refineries could choose approximately how much diesel and how much gasoline to crack out of a barrel of oil. I thought it was a shifting percentage. But a guy who used to be a petroleum engineer told me that it's not true. He said there's only so much potential diesel in a barrel of oil and so much gasoline that can be cracked. You can't really increase the amount of diesel by cracking less gas or vice versa. Does anyone know the definitive answer to this question?

[Speck Tater]

7. One reason is China's huge, and rapidly growing demand for deisel. NT

[napi21]

9. Well, the one answer I read here that really makes sense is military usage.

I hadn't thought about that. I blamed the whole gas crisis on military usage in Iraq, but now that I think about it, other than the hummers and reg. trucks, tanks and most other military vehicles do run on deisel. Damn! Get the hell out of Iraq!

[dysfunctional press]

13. the navy too...other than the nuclear ships, they all use diesel as well.

nt

[freestyle]

11. Since the switch to low sulfur diesel, prices shot way up

I drive a diesel. About 8 months ago, new regulations went into effect to dramatically lower the sulfur content of diesel (by about 95%). Diesel had been hovering between teh price for mid-grade and premium gas before then. Since then, it haas been consistently higher. The new regs are better for the environment and will enable diesel car sales in all 50 states, but the price comes as a shock to some. But, the diesel is still a far better value. My car gets about 40 mpg city and 50 highway. The gas version is about 25 city and 30 highway. The diesel comes out ahead unless diesel fuel is about $6.50. Also, you can run biodiesel if you like and if you can find it.