Home Latest Articles Listen on the go! A daily podcast of Wall Street Breakfast will be available by 8:00 a.m. on Seeking Alpha , iTunes , Spotify . Getty Images Prices at the pump are showing few signs of abating, with U.S. diesel futures surging to their highest levels since 2022 on Tuesday.
The diesel crack spread climbed above $106/bbl , marking a new record, as the global supply crunch continues. Market check: Retail diesel prices at $5.63/gal are near the highest level since the Iran war began, according to the American Automobile Association. Analysts say the price could breach the $5.80/gal record hit in 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Notably, the national average gasoline price stayed above $4 per gallon throughout August for the first time ever. Renewed U.S.-Iran hostilities have rekindled concerns about Gulf oil flows, with crude futures settling at a five-week high on Tuesday. The escalation "dashes any hope for a recovery in refined product flows, leaving markets tight," ING Economic and Financial Analysis noted.
"Middle distillate cracks are likely to remain highly elevated and volatile, particularly as we move towards seasonally stronger demand. The global refining system has little slack to make up for the disruptions we are currently seeing." Exploring options: President Donald Trump pressed U.S. oil refiners to boost domestic production during a White House meeting on Tuesday, to help lower prices at the pump ahead of the November midterm elections. They discussed ways to expand refining capacity, including easing regulations, accelerating the permitting process and additional investments.
Roughly a dozen executives attended the meeting, including leaders of Marathon Petroleum ( MPC ), Valero Energy ( VLO ), Phillips 66 ( PSX ), Chevron ( CVX ), PBF Energy ( PBF ) and Delek US ( DK ). At the meeting, the executives reportedly raised concerns of federal biofuel blending requirements, including quotas for alternative fuels, raising pump prices and criticized the administration's decision to set record-high biofuel blending quotas. New refineries: Trump also pushed for new refineries to be built, the industry doesn't think it's a profitable proposition.
Refiners are reaping record profits amid the global fuel crunch, with U.S. refineries operating near maximum capacity. But building new refineries would require billions of dollars and 3-5 years of construction, by which time demand could ease. "Nobody's going to go out and make a huge multibillion-dollar investment based on three months of record margins," said Robert Campbell, Energy Aspects analyst, told The Wall Street Journal .
"You really think there's going to be another situation where Russia's being attacked, and there's a crisis in the Middle East, and China has slowly stopped exporting products?" There's also the bureaucratic hurdle — new refineries would require several permits from federal, state and local governments. ( 3 comments ) Here's the latest Seeking Alpha analysis What else is happening... Today's Markets In Asia, Japan -2.9% . Hong Kong -0.1% .
China -1% . India -0.5% . In Europe, at midday, London -0.7% .
Paris -0.7% . Frankfurt -0.9% . Futures at 6:30, Dow -0.1% .
S&P -0.2% . Nasdaq -0.5% . Crude +0.1% to $90.33.
Gold -0.9% to $4,357.10. Bitcoin -2.1% to $76,468. Ten-year Treasury Yield +1 bp to 4.82%.
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