Diesel refining margins—known as crack spreads—have exploded to extreme levels across the three major refining hubs, signaling a tightening global middle distillate market that is only in its early stages. As of late August 2026, the US Gulf Coast ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) crack versus WTI stood near $93–94 per barrel (after briefly topping a […]
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In this episode of the Energy Realities podcast, hosts Stu Turley, Dr. Tammy Nemeth, and David Blackmon tackle the most pressing energy security challenges facing the Western world today. From the UK’s crumbling electrical grid infrastructure to record-breaking diesel price spikes that threaten global supply chains, the conversation reveals a troubling pattern: energy crises are […]
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Hedge funds have sharply reduced their short-only positions on European diesel (ICE gasoil) to the lowest level in more than two years while adding fresh long positions, signaling that traders expect the current historic fuels supply crunch to persist. According to ICE Futures Europe data cited in reports of the Bloomberg story, funds cut short-only […]
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The Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in consultation with the Department of Energy (DOE), issued a temporary emergency fuel waiver on August 20, 2026, allowing an early transition to winter-grade gasoline blends. This move aims to boost domestic supply and ease pressure on pump prices amid ongoing disruptions tied to the Iran conflict and […]
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On the morning of August 21, 2026, Ukrainian drones struck the Lukoil-Permnefteorgsintez oil refinery in Russia’s Perm Krai, more than 1,500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Thick black smoke rose over the facility, one of Russia’s 10 largest refineries with a design capacity of around 13 million metric tons of crude per year (approximately 262,000 […]
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The ongoing conflict in Iran has triggered a profound energy crunch that extends far beyond crude oil prices. While Brent crude has retreated to around $90 per barrel from a wartime peak near $126, global shortages of refined products—diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel—have intensified. Global refinery throughput in July 2026 ran nearly 5 million barrels […]
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The U.S. diesel crack spread—the premium of ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) futures over West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude—has shattered every historical record. On Monday, August 17, 2026, it surged to an intraday all-time high of $102.20 per barrel and settled in triple digits for the first time, hovering around $100 the following day. For context, […]
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The U.S. diesel crack spread—the premium of ultra-low sulfur diesel futures over West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude—has shattered historical records, surging above $100 per barrel for the first time ever. It hit an intraday all-time high of $102.20 on Monday, August 17, 2026, before hovering around $100 on Tuesday, August 18 (settling in triple digits […]
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Brent crude hovering near $91 a barrel might look manageable on a trading screen. Jeff Currie, the veteran commodities strategist now at Carlyle Group, argues that focus is dangerously misplaced. “Nobody on the planet Earth consumes crude oil,” Currie told CNBC. “Refineries do. Everyone else consumes gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, and those markets look […]
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Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement claimed on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, that its forces targeted Saudi Aramco’s Jazan (also spelled Jizan) oil refinery on the Red Sea coast in southwest Saudi Arabia with “a number of drones.” A Houthi military source told the group’s Saba news agency the strike was “precise” and conducted in response to […]
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