ReportUS Diesel Hits Record $6.05 as Iran War Cuts Oil ChokepointsAired September 13, 2026 at 10:46 PM UTCWritten September 13, 2026 at 11:13 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:11Diesel fuel has hit an all-time national record of $6.05 a gallon.0:16That number is rewriting the cost of nearly everything Americans buy.0:19Nearly three-quarters of commercial shipping runs on diesel, so the spike hits0:23freight first, then producer prices, then shelves at the grocery store.0:26How long does the surge hold?0:28The answer depends on three choke points currently in a war zone.0:31The national average for diesel is $6.05 a gallon.0:36That tops the previous record of roughly $5.82 set in 2022, and it is up0:41sharply from $3.75 before the war began in late February.0:45Regular gasoline averages $4.29, up from $2.98.0:51It remains below its 2022 record of $5.02.0:55But diesel is where the true pressure sits.0:57Diesel is the workhorse fuel behind the trucks that carry nearly everything1:01Americans buy.1:02Plus rail, agriculture, and construction.1:05When diesel spikes, freight costs rise, producer prices follow, and consumer prices1:09surface with a lag.1:10Analysts are flagging that pass-through as a fresh inflation risk exactly as the1:14harvest and holiday shipping seasons arrive.1:16When freight demand peaks, the surge has already added well over $700 to annual1:20household fuel costs since late February, and the pain extends well beyond the gas1:25pump into the freight, manufacturing, agriculture, retail, and fulfillment networks1:29that depend on diesel-powered transportation.1:31The disruption is threefold.1:33First, the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about 20 million barrels a day1:37roughly a quarter of globally traded seaborne oil is severely constrained.1:41Iran has declared it closed, laid mines, and attacked vessels.1:44Q2 flows collapsed to just 4.9 million barrels a day.1:48Second, on the other side of the region, Houthi forces have seized the islands1:52controlling Bab el-Mandeb, Mocha, Perim, Hanish, and Zukar.1:55That gives them control of Yemen's Red Sea coast, and they say navigation is safe1:59except for Saudi vessels.2:01Third, after drone attacks launched from Iraq hit its pumping stations, Saudi Arabia2:05shut its east-west pipeline, the main bypass that carried Gulf crude to Yanbu on the2:10Red Sea.2:11That pipeline had a capacity of five to seven million barrels a day, with both2:15straits constrained and the pipeline down.2:17Gulf exporters have lost the alternatives that once cushioned the market.2:20The exact figures carry some dispute.2:22While the widely cited numbers are $6.05 for diesel and $4.29 for gasoline, other2:28readings for the same day show slightly higher, $6.20 for diesel, and while most2:33estimates put Hormuz's share of seaborne oil at a quarter, some analysis suggests2:37over a third.2:38The surge has already added well over $700 to annual household fuel costs.2:44What is unresolved is how long the pressure holds.2:47Prices move daily, the straits remain contested in a war with no end in sight, and2:52each ceasefire and each renewed strike swings the numbers.2:55Diesel rose in a sequence, $5.85 on September 8th, past $6 on the 11th, and the3:01record on the 13th.3:02The exact path forward is tied to the conflict itself.3:05For now, the record at the pump is the visible face of an inflation risk that3:09Washington cannot control at the choke point and cannot shelter the household from.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗