Key facts
- The national average retail diesel price was $5.998 a gallon on November 14, per GasBuddy.
- Diesel had held above $6 a gallon since September 10 and peaked at a record $6.519 on September 22.
- Brent crude futures fell 18.5% over the two weeks before November 14, GasBuddy-linked reporting said.
- GasBuddy's Patrick De Haan said autumn demand softens as driving declines and hurricane risk fades.
- The Trump administration temporarily lifted federal taxes on red-dyed diesel and eased sanctions on Russian fuel.
- Gasoline fell below $4 a gallon in November for the first time since August 10, per GasBuddy.
The US national average retail diesel price fell to $5.998 a gallon on November 14, slipping below $6 for the first time in two months, according to fuel price tracker GasBuddy. Diesel had traded above that level since September 10 and reached a record $6.519 a gallon on September 22, after earlier breaking the record set following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
GasBuddy attributed the retreat to seasonal demand weakness and a decline in crude oil prices, to which diesel is closely linked. Brent crude futures were down 18.5% over the two weeks before November 14. Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis, said demand typically softens in the autumn as driving declines, hurricane season winds down and the risk of Gulf Coast refinery disruptions fades, while refinery maintenance is largely completed by November, allowing production rates to recover.
Diesel had risen as the US-Israeli war against Iran disrupted oil supplies and Ukraine's attacks on Russian refineries constrained production. The Trump administration introduced measures aimed at easing costs, including temporarily lifting federal taxes on red-dyed diesel, easing sanctions on Russian fuel and launching an $8 billion support program for farmers during the autumn harvest. Those measures provided only limited relief while supply concerns from the Iran war dominated the market, the report said.
In California, where refining capacity is constrained and fuel specifications are more stringent, diesel prices briefly exceeded $10 a gallon. Gasoline also fell below $4 a gallon in November for the first time since August 10, according to GasBuddy data.