LONDON, the UK (Sept 15): Average diesel prices in the US struck a record high of just under US$6.27 (RM25.40) a gallon on Tuesday, the motorists' association AAA said, pressuring President Donald Trump ahead of midterm congressional elections.

The price of the fuel used largely in road hauling, agriculture and construction hit US$6.2694, according to the association, as the Middle East war tightens supplies and Ukraine strikes Russian refineries.

"The diesel and gas oil markets remain extremely tight," Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief analyst at Global Risk Management, said in a client note on Tuesday.

"A halt to Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries would help the diesel balance, but the shortage of refined products from the Middle East matters far more," he said.

"Diesel and gasoil prices and cracks only really surged after the start of the war with Iran," Rasmussen added, referring to "crack spreads" — the price difference between crude oil and refined products.

Average US diesel prices jumped above US$6 a gallon for the first time on Friday, having surged from US$3.7577 a gallon at the start of the US-Iran war, according to the AAA.

It had reached a record US$5.8159 a gallon in June 2022, a few months after the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

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