Diesel Prices Are Soaring. Here's Why the Cost of Almost Everything Could Rise Next.

Diesel futures have climbed to roughly $100 above crude oil prices, an unusually wide gap that reflects a global shortage of refinery capacity rather than simply a lack of crude. (Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/Getty)

Diesel prices are surging as geopolitical conflicts squeeze global fuel supplies and expose a shortage of refining capacity, creating new inflation risks for U.S. consumers, farmers and businesses that depend on trucking and transportation.

The increase is the energy shock analysts had been warning about, even as crude oil prices have shown a relatively restrained response to the war with Iran, according to Axios. The disconnect is important because diesel is embedded in the cost of producing and moving goods across the economy, from crops harvested on American farms to food delivered to grocery stores and restaurants.