Warning issued about diesel shortages on the east coast

A diesel supply alert has been issued by a major fuel logistics company.

On October 25, Mansfield Energy issued a supply alert for diesel fuel markets on the east coast. The company described the current fuel market as “rapidly devolving” and noted that “markets are now seeing extremely high prices in the Northeast along with supply outages along the Southeast.”

States included in the Mansfield Energy alert are North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Maryland.

Mansfield Energy pointed to “poor pipeline shipping economics and historically low diesel inventories” which are “combining to cause shortages in various markets throughout the Southeast.”

The company said that the diesel shortages “have been occurring sporadically, with areas like Tennessee seeing particularly acute challenges.”

From Mansfield Energy:

In many areas, actual fuel prices are currently 30-80 cents higher than the posted market average, because supply is tight. Usually the “low rack” posters can sell many loads of fuel before running out of supply; now, they only have one or two loads. That means fuel suppliers have to pull from higher cost options, at a time when low-high spreads are much wider than normal. At times, carriers are having to visit multiple terminals to find supply, which delays deliveries and strains local trucking capacity.

On October 14, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that the U.S. had only 25 days worth of diesel fuel in reserve. The White House has vowed to monitor the supply and is reportedly working to increase fuel reserves.

On Monday morning, the national average price for a gallon of diesel was $5.309, according to AAA, down slightly from last week but significantly up from last month’s average price of $4.876.