Oil prices and President Joe Biden’s continued draining of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) have dominated the headlines over the past few weeks, but analysts say a more impactful and serious crisis on the energy front looms: a diesel fuel shortage.
Diesel doesn’t get as much of the limelight as oil and gas, but it should because diesel fuel is the industrial lifeblood of the United States, and the price of diesel alone probably has a more significant impact on inflation and the prices you’re paying at the grocery store over any other factor. Without ample amounts of diesel, semi-trucks don’t move, farms are shut down, and critical manufacturing sectors are crippled.
As Bloomberg noted this week, “The US has just 25 days of diesel supply, the lowest since 2008, according to the Energy Information Administration. At the same time, the four-week rolling average of distillates supplied, a proxy for demand, rose to its highest seasonal level since 2007.”
The Biden administration has remained strangely silent, probably hoping that the dismal news doesn’t hit the mainstream because it’s a total political timebomb waiting to go off, especially as the midterm elections are so close.
Bloomberg noted:
The diesel crunch comes just weeks ahead of the midterm elections and has the potential to drive up prices for consumers who already view inflation and the economy as a top voting issue. Retail prices have been steadily climbing for more than two weeks. At $5.324 a gallon, they’re 50% higher than this time last year, according to AAA data.
Notably, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese recently commented on the emerging crisis. Deese said diesel inventories are “unacceptably low” and added that “all options are on the table,” whatever that means.
Aside from that remark, the White House has done little to nothing about the issue — an issue that could further cripple confidence in the ability of Democrats to lead America through tough times, as they’ve already proven on many occasions over the past two years.
Diesel has also been described as the nation’s “inflation canary,” given that it’s so critically important for everything we need to survive. The bottom line is that without ample supplies and record-high prices for what’s left, Americans will get financially hammered over the winter and into 2023.
Folks, it’s probably going to get really bad out there. The scary part is that the Biden administration doesn’t seem to give a rip.
Taking from @JavierBlas: “US has just 106 million barrels of diesel stockpiles. Last time inventories were that low in mid-October was in 1951. Inventories should be 30% higher this time of the year.” Fed have another wave of energy-led inflation coming? https://t.co/HURQmUg2oH pic.twitter.com/vKMmCheowA
— Valerie Tytel (@ValerieTytel) October 19, 2022
How bad is this situation truly? Let’s put the pieces together.
We have a historically low supply of diesel fuel, which powers everything that allows us to eat, drink, and live our daily lives. Because of the diminished supply under Biden, we have surging prices, making the cost of hauling goods, farming, and everything else that requires diesel fuel (pretty much everything) higher than ever before, which will cause prices of everything we use and need to increase in the coming months significantly.
Add to that a potentially hard, cold winter for many parts of the country, when heating oil demand will skyrocket, causing prices to soar once again over competition for what’s left in the tank.
The United States has just 25 days until our diesel gas supply is depleted.
Prices are going to skyrocket across the board if this happens.
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) October 20, 2022
I’d say that it’s unbelievable that the Biden administration has let the problem get so bad as to be a potentially crippling crisis for America in the coming months, but it’s not. In fact, it’s quite believable, and it lines up with other jaw-droppingly stupid decisions made by the current White House that many now believe are so bad that they are likely intentional, for whatever sinister reasons.
So, in other words, if you thought prices at the pump, the grocery store, and everything else that affects our lives are high now, you ain’t seen nothing yet, Jack.
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