# Diesel price jumped this week in SW Florida



## karmatourer (Jul 6, 2018)

It has held steady for the 8 weeks I owned the TD at $2.99. Today it is $3.14. While gasoline prices have moved in both directions the past 8 weeks,diesel hasn't moved. I was really surprised to see it.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

At the major truckstops. It's gone up to 3.65

At the local truckstops. Down to 3.37

There's one gas station truckstop holding steady at 3.52

I"m not sure on gas as I only fuel up at 2 places and only need every 3 weeks. Haven't been paying much attention these days to prices.


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## karmatourer (Jul 6, 2018)

snowwy66 said:


> At the major truckstops. It's gone up to 3.65
> 
> At the local truckstops. Down to 3.37
> 
> ...


In what part of the country are you located? Same here,about every 2 months or so. ​


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## IndyDiesel (May 24, 2015)

I paid 2.99 today for diesel at a local Marathon station


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

karmatourer said:


> In what part of the country are you located? Same here,about every 2 months or so. ​


utah


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

I near what must be the only place in the USA that I can find diesel fuel for the same price or slightly lower than gasoline.


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## karmatourer (Jul 6, 2018)

Barry Allen said:


> I near what must be the only place in the USA that I can find diesel fuel for the same price or slightly lower than gasoline.


Lower than regular gas? Decades ago,diesel was always cheaper than gas.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

I'm not sure if diesel was as popular back then. Engines were noisy and unreliable back in them days. Worked in the summer but would leave one hanging in the winter. Only reason people bought em was cuz diesel was cheap. But they didn't keep the vehicles very long. I hardly saw them back in my wrenching days. IIRC. There wasn't a lot of places that sold diesel either. 

Today, CNG is the cheap thing. But the only vehicles running CNG. Are gooberment fleets. And again. Not a lot of places selling CNG.


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## johnmo (Mar 2, 2017)

Barry Allen said:


> I near what must be the only place in the USA that I can find diesel fuel for the same price or slightly lower than gasoline.


Where I live diesel is generally more than regular and less than premium, but sometimes it's cheaper than regular. It's seasonal and depends on market conditions, but it happens. Diesel and home heating oil are basically the same plus winter additives for diesel mean it's probably not going to be cheaper in the winter. Sometimes in the spring and summer diesel gets cheap.


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

karmatourer said:


> Lower tha regular gas? Decades ago,diesel was always cheaper than gas.


Back then, diesel, heating oil, propane and butane were what was left when you took the gasoline out. Gillette made a genius move when they started putting the worthless butane in Cricket lighters and selling it instead of just flaming it off. Now they rearrange the molecules to put out whatever they want, and when you buy diesel you're buying more btu/gallon than when you buy regular. And in the winter, at least up here, they can stick the butane in my car. 

Oh, BTW, a snowbird friend of mine (has a place between Ocala and Orlando) told me the other day that they sell the same winter gas in Florida that they sell in Michigan. I was skeptical but didn't bother to look it up.


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## karmatourer (Jul 6, 2018)

Taxman said:


> Back then, diesel, heating oil, propane and butane were what was left when you took the gasoline out. Gillette made a genius move when they started putting the worthless butane in Cricket lighters and selling it instead of just flaming it off. Now they rearrange the molecules to put out whatever they want, and when you buy diesel you're buying more btu/gallon than when you buy regular. And in the winter, at least up here, they can stick the butane in my car.
> 
> Oh, BTW, a snowbird friend of mine (has a place between Ocala and Orlando) told me the other day that they sell the same winter gas in Florida that they sell in Michigan. I was skeptical but didn't bother to look it up.


I remember back in the '50s or 60s,someone told me diesel was less refined that gas,so it was cheaper-I was a kid and had no reason to doubt them. Our population jumps quite a bit for 5 months when snowbirds ruin life for locals down here-good for business and lousy for residents. I find it hard to imagine what he said rings true about the same gas as Michigan but I'm no expert. It rarely reaches the 40s here. I thought we kept the summer blend all year.


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

karmatourer said:


> I thought we kept the summer blend all year.


So did I. 
But EIA talks as if everybody can go off summer fuel on the 15th and shows most of Florida using the same summer fuel as Michigan. (but the article is 5 years old)
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=11031

And Carp & Drivel says summer/winter fuel applies in the 48 contiguous states, and mentions that California has longer calendar requirements for summer fuel, but I don't know if that's CARB or the feds requiring summer fuel in CA in April.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/the-vapor-rub-summer-versus-winter-gasoline-explained


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

karmatourer said:


> Lower than regular gas? Decades ago,diesel was always cheaper than gas.


Yes, there are a couple stations that frequently have diesel a few cents cheaper per gallon than regular unleaded.

Decades ago diesel fuel was basically anything leftover from distillation. Back then fuel would easily gel and it was acceptable to blend up to 30% gasoline into the tanks to keep things liquid. Diesel fuel had zero specifications codified in standards until 1993, when the EPA required sulfur to be below 500ppm. ULSD now has an entire ASTM specification dedicated to it and it's a fuel that requires stringent quality control for at least sulfur and lubricity specifications.


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

Barry Allen said:


> Decades ago diesel fuel was basically anything leftover from distillation.


I can remember when "#2 diesel" was about a buck and "#1 Premium Diesel" was about ten cents more. IIRC the premium was thinner and had a higher cetane rating. Now I can't remember the last time I noticed a pump labeled for cetane.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

Taxman said:


> I can remember when "#2 diesel" was about a buck and "#1 Premium Diesel" was about ten cents more. IIRC the premium was thinner and had a higher cetane rating. Now I can't remember the last time I noticed a pump labeled for cetane.


My opinion is that both gasoline and diesel fuel in the United States are in need of upgrades.

Auto manufacturers have supported making 89 octane the new "regular" unleaded so they can continue to switch to turbocharged engines for fuel economy benefits. It would take nationwide upgrades to oil refineries, but would be worth it for the benefits.

Likewise, the USA needs to establish a new, higher cetane number for diesel fuel. The current minimum on a federal level is 40. California has set 53 as the minimum number for emissions improvements, and Texas has 48 as the minimum number for 110 counties where they desire lower emissions. It would be nice to have a 48-50 cetane number as the minimum specification nationwide.


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## karmatourer (Jul 6, 2018)

Barry Allen said:


> My opinion is that both gasoline and diesel fuel in the United States are in need of upgrades.
> 
> Auto manufacturers have supported making 89 octane the new "regular" unleaded so they can continue to switch to turbocharged engines for fuel economy benefits. It would take nationwide upgrades to oil refineries, but would be worth it for the benefits.
> 
> Likewise, the USA needs to establish a new, higher cetane number for diesel fuel. The current minimum on a federal level is 40. California has set 53 as the minimum number for emissions improvements, and Texas has 48 as the minimum number for 110 counties where they desire lower emissions. It would be nice to have a 48-50 cetane number as the minimum specification nationwide.


I'd be fine with paying a bit more for a higher cetane number. I'm sure the refiners will pass their costs associated with the higher number to us. refines


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