Louisiana drivers and farmers are paying near-record prices for diesel while U.S. diesel exports sit near five-year highs. The state average was $5.88 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA, compared with $3.32 a year earlier. The state record is $6.03, set Sept. 21.
U.S. exports of distillate fuel oil, the EIA category that is mostly diesel and also includes heating oil, reached a weekly record of 1.9 million barrels a day in early August, based on Energy Information Administration data. The governor’s office noted that net exports remain near five-year highs while domestic inventories run 12.5% below the five-year average.
Europe is a major destination for that fuel, and the Netherlands, a trading hub, shows the shift. Monthly EIA data show U.S. distillate exports to the Netherlands averaged about 213,000 barrels a day from March through June, up from about 92,000 a year earlier, according to a WECU News calculation of the agency’s figures.
The International Energy Agency said in its August report that diesel exports from Russia, the Middle East and Asia were 1.3 million barrels a day lower than a year earlier, about 20% of global seaborne trade. Local reporting has tied the price surge to renewed conflict involving Iran and attacks on Russian refineries. In the Baton Rouge area, AAA put the average at $5.89 on Friday. Individual stations vary. A Murphy USA on Airline Highway posted diesel at $5.359 a gallon Friday evening, according to a photo of its sign taken by WECU News.
European prices have climbed higher still. Diesel there hit an all-time high of 2.24 euros per liter, which that report on the dispute over emergency stocks converts to about $9.56 a gallon.
That dispute reached a head this week. The Trump administration asked France and Germany to release 120 million barrels of emergency diesel over six months and threatened a U.S. export ban if they refuse, according to sources cited in a Reuters exclusive. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has urged Europe to tap its reserves. European officials have said they prefer a coordinated approach, and the EU’s energy task force has discussed a French proposal to release 50 million barrels of diesel.
Louisiana has its own stake in the outcome. Gov. Jeff Landry declared a diesel emergency on Sept. 23 and signed an order letting farmers and timber harvesters use dyed off-road diesel on highways through Oct. 22. The president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association has said pipelines that carry diesel within the U.S. are already at capacity, so an export ban would force refineries to reduce production.