The cost of diesel hit a new high on Tuesday, continuing the precipitous rise in prices driven by the war in Ukraine.

The national average for a gallon of diesel now stands at a record $5.37, according to the American Automobile Association, while the average price for gasoline is $4.204 per gallon. Gasoline is down slightly compared to the record $4.331 per gallon set on March 11.


Prices for diesel in the northeast are standing out, with Maine and Connecticut both passing the $6 per gallon mark on Tuesday, per data from GasBuddy. Pennsylvania, New York, and the rest of New England were a few hundredths of a cent behind the mark as of Tuesday.

DAILY ON ENERGY: OIL COMPANIES CASHING IN ON HIGH PRICES

Diesel prices have shown special volatility, rising much faster than gasoline over the last week. For that, the differential between the average national prices of diesel and gasoline also exceeded $1 per gallon for the first time ever on April 28.


A number of factors are helping to drive prices higher, including a shortage of refining capacity globally; rising demand for jet fuel, which competes with diesel for refining capacity; and higher fuel demand in diesel-reliant Europe, according to Brendan Williams, vice president of government relations for New Jersey-based refiner PBF Energy.

The chemical composition of diesel, a distillate fuel, also limits the yield of diesel a refiner can draw out of a given barrel of oil.

"You can't take a barrel of oil and turn it into all diesel fuel," Williams told the Washington Examiner. "If you're really good, maybe 40% of that barrel is diesel."

Oil prices have remained above $100 per barrel since Russia invaded Ukraine, and any ventures below that mark over the last two months have been short-lived.

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The Biden administration has undertaken a series of moves in a bid to relieve price pressures, including committing to a progressive release of several hundred million barrels of crude oil from the nation's reserves in the coming months.

The Department of Energy awarded contracts for 30 million barrels of Strategic Petroleum Reserve crude oil in April and will initiate the sale of an additional 40 million SPR barrels on May 24.