Fuel supplier Mansfield Energy is warning businesses to prepare for diesel fuel shortages while consumers can expect higher prices at the pump.
Mansfield is advising businesses that rely on diesel fuel to start planning for shortages rather than panic, after raising a red flag last week for the southeastern region of the U.S.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson commented on the possibility of the country running out of diesel fuel on his show last week. Citing data from the Energy Information Administration, Carlson said that there was just a 25 day supply at the time.
“What’s going to happen then? Well, everything will stop. That means trucks and trains and barges all unable to move,” he said. “Farm equipment will shut down. There will be no deliveries because there’ll be no trucks. There’ll be no diesel generators and then inevitably, our economy will crash because everything runs on diesel fuel—not on solar panels, not on wind farms, on diesel fuel.”
Most goods travel by truck in America and as truckers pay more for fuel consumers end up paying more for just about everything, and this comes as the nation is already reeling from 40-year high inflation — a factor that is expected to pay dividends for the Republican Party in next week’s midterm elections.
Noting that diesel “is not a negotiable commodity,” Carlson stated unequivocally, “You have to have diesel.”
East Coast markets normally have around 50 million barrels in storage, according to Fox News, but the current level available is half that amount at less than 25 million barrels.
“A tight diesel supply will force prices to go up, which will eventually make it too expensive for some people,” Mansfield Energy said in a press release on Monday. “High prices will bring demand back down enough that it balances with limited supply.”
At the same time, consumers will feel the crunch before businesses that rely on diesel for operations do.
“That is not to say there will not occasionally be situations where there is a true physical lack of products,” the company said. “Some cities might run dry on diesel for a few days, at least at the terminal level. But the fuel supply chain is dynamic, and suppliers will rally to fill in any gaps in supply.”
Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, LLC, told CNBC that “the national average price for diesel today is $5.30 per gallon and is expected to go up 15 to 20 cents in the next few weeks.”
The business network reported that diesel prices have increased 33% for November deliveries and are expected to go higher.
Carlson also noted last week that jet fuel is up about 23% in just the last month and kerosene, which is used to heat people’s homes — primarily low-income families — is close to $7 a gallon.
And the Fox News host said there may be few options if any.
“The problem is at this point, there may not be an answer because there may not be a way to avoid a disaster,” Carlson explained. “Diesel fuel is not just low in this country. It’s low in every Western nation that is aligned itself with Ukraine. All these nations preparing for World War Trans are running out of diesel fuel.”
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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