Diesel crack is ultra-low sulfur diesel futures price minus WTI crude.
Crossed $100 on Aug 17 2026. Peaked around $102.20 intraday.
Hovered near $100 the next day. Never happened before.
Old record was about $89 in Oct 2022 during Russia-Ukraine crunch.
Hit near $97-98 earlier this year in March but stayed under the new line.
US distillate stocks (diesel plus heating oil) at lowest for this time of year since 1996. Around 105-107 million barrels.
Drivers: Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, Middle East outages, Russian export curbs, peak farm demand.
US refiners running near 96% utilization. Still not enough to fill the gap.
The US diesel crack spread (the difference between crude prices and the price of gasoline and diesel) has surpassed $100 per barrel for the FIRST TIME in history.
STAY LONG DIESEL. pic.twitter.com/RiZDJnr5QI
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) August 20, 2026