(RightIsRight.co) – US government data has shown the United States stockpile of diesel for heating and trucking is sufficient for only 25 days, causing alarm in the transportation industry.
According to data released by the Energy Information Administration, America’s diesel stockpile is the lowest since 2008.
At the same time, the four-week rolling average of distillates supplied, which measures diesel demand, presently stands at its highest seasonal level since 2007.
These announcements have already led to a nearly 40% surge in delivery prices for November.
Against that backdrop, President Joe Biden has accused oil companies of deliberately spiking prices to boost their profits and threatened them with a windfall tax.
However, representatives of the US transportation industry have blamed the diesel shortage on supply chain problems and bureaucratic hurdles that have occurred on the watch of the Biden administration.
According to Mansfield Energy CEO Michael Mansfield, diesel prices are high due to red tape reduction of America’s refining capacity and supply chain shortages and regulations.
“There’s simply a shortage of product there as compared to three years ago. The economy’s come back a great deal since the pandemic, but refining capacity in the United States is about… a little over a million barrels a day or less capacity than we have had in the past. There’s been several refinery shutdowns,” Mansfield explained.
“These refineries won’t come back online and the product is not as available as it once was, so we have to import more or just simply pay higher prices,” he added.
The energy industry executive indirectly repudiated Biden’s claims about excessive corporate profits.
“I think there’s a lot of misinformation about how this industry works and… where profits are created or not created. I do think this industry does an extraordinary job and is very innovative in trying to keep the country supplied, moving products around as efficiently and quietly as possible,” Mansfield said.
South Carolina Trucking Association CEO Rick Todd blamed the diesel shortage and high prices on a combination of bad government policies, high seasonal demand, and insufficient refining capacity.
“We should… as a country take a longer-term view, do everything we can, put everything on the table. But in the meantime, stick with what works until you can replace it, and then make sure that when you do replace it, that it’s scalable,” Todd said.
“Nobody wants to be force-fed any alternative technologies or anything until they’re done. So I think we put ourselves in this situation unnecessarily,” he added.
Trucking, oil companies ramp up warnings on diesel shortage: 'We put ourselves in this situation' https://t.co/92HSdy6pZV
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 2, 2022
