Marine One flies US President George W. Bush over an oil refinery devastated by Hurricane Ike in 2008
A third distillate disruption
Diesel market disruptions have propelled crude prices above $100/bl twice in this century, and now oil teeters on the brink of another crude quality crisis
The combination of a glut of low-distillate-yield crudes, efforts by oil-exporting nations to boost prices, refinery shutdowns, and ill-conceived government policies threatens to push prices for diesel and low-sulphur distillates to record or near-record levels. The trade war instigated by the US will exacerbate market tightness by diverting key oil supplies from sophisticated refineries in the US, while Asian refineries purchase distillate-poor US crude to appease President Donald Trump’s trade hawks. To meet rising demand for these products, refiners will bid up low-sulphur, distillate-rich crudes such as Nigeria’s Bonny Light. The record or near-record production of US crude oils with low
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
