Governments all over the world are urgently telling citizens to prepare for food shortages and war. It has never cost more to move oil around the world.

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Refineries are now the main chokepoint for global energy supplies

Persian Gulf states and Russia have invested tens of billions of dollars in refineries over the past decade to grab a bigger share of the global diesel market. Now, war in both regions has sent exports plunging, squeezing supplies of a fuel that powers much of the global economy.

Diesel prices are soaring—they eclipsed $6 a gallon in the U.S. for the first time last week and have kept climbing, hitting $6.45 on Friday. The surge has rattled governments and markets around the world that rely on diesel as the workhorse of their industry, transportation and agriculture. Shortages have appeared at gas stations in rural Brazil, in Libya and some African nations that can’t afford to import the fuel.

A U.S. ban would likely send prices for the rest of the world soaring—and potentially push other big diesel exporters such as China and India to follow suit.

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