The Tape
Diesel is $6.31. Another record on a Wednesday. The gallon is $4.37.
AAA this morning. Up from $6.27. The Saudi pipe is dark. Forty-nine days to the vote.
The Rocket News · Economy · New YorkSeptember 16, 2026 · 4 min read
AAA put the U.S. diesel average at $6.31 a gallon on Wednesday, a record, above Tuesday’s $6.27. Regular gasoline is $4.37. Before the Iran war it was $3.76. The Economy desk files the workhorse fuel on the morning the Saudi workaround went dark and a poll put Democrats plus nine.
Yanbu loadings are suspended. The East-West was the pipe around Hormuz. It is shut. Wright says days. Goldman says eight weeks. Distillate inventories are already below the five-year range. Fuel riots from Indonesia to Guatemala. No president has faced a midterm with diesel above $6. This one will.
The highest it has ever been. Again.
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A $5,000 dividend does not fill a tank. The Economy desk files $6.31 as the American number on a Wednesday the strait is closed and the pipe is not a pipe.
Wire and further reading: gasprices.aaa.com
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Oil
Brent settled at $117.64. WTI settled at $104.12.
Reuters, the Friday settlement in Houston: Brent’s December contract rose $2.76 and expired at $117.64. WTI rose $2.12, to $104.12. Not the morning print. The photograph is a pumpjack from October 2025.
Oil
Oil fell before New York. Brent was $114.10.
At 3:51 a.m. Greenwich time, Reuters had Brent down $1.22, at $114.10, and WTI at $101.45. Not the settlement. The photograph is a Permian pumpjack from October 8, 2025.
Markets
Oil rose before New York. Saudi did not confirm a strike.
As of 1:40 a.m. GMT, Brent was $115.36 and West Texas Intermediate was $101.12. The Houthis said they hit Saudi Arabia's biggest refinery. Saudi authorities did not confirm it. This is not a settlement. The photograph is June 22 in the Strait of Hormuz.