US Diesel Hits Record $6.23 a Gallon as Trump Presses Zelenskyy to Stop Hitting Russian Refineries

The number

Diesel hit a fresh national average record of $6.23 a gallon on September 14, according to the American Automobile Association. That's up from $6.20 the day before and $5.90 a week earlier. Over the past month, diesel has climbed more than 80 cents. Compared to a year ago, when it averaged $3.69, drivers and truckers are now paying $2.54 more per gallon.

Earlier this month, AAA data reviewed by CNN showed diesel breaking $6 a gallon nationally for the first time ever, hitting $6.06, up 21 cents in a single week. That topped the previous record of $5.82 set in June 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In California, the average diesel price stood at $7.98 a gallon, and Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, warned prices there could "blow past" $8. "Some pumps aren't even built to display what could come next," he said in a post on X.

Trump's ask

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on September 13, President Trump said Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries are adding to the diesel squeeze. "I've asked President Zelenskyy not to hit the diesel plants, refineries," Trump said, adding that Russian diesel is "having a hard time coming out" and that "this is a case that hurts the world." Earlier that day, on the sidelines of the Irish Open, Trump put it more bluntly: "He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia. There are plenty of other targets."

Zelenskyy has defended the strategy. Ukraine has repeatedly hit Russian oil and gas infrastructure with long-range drones and missiles, calling the facilities part of the economic machinery financing Moscow's war. On June 28, Zelenskyy posted on X that strikes reached refineries in Krasnodar and Yaroslavl, saying "each of our long-range sanctions means fewer resources serving Russia's war machine, and another step toward peace." More recently, on September 12, he said Ukrainian forces hit an oil facility in Perm and a crude storage tank in Taganrog. He's also noted Russia's retaliation has been intense, saying Russia launched roughly 2,100 drones at Ukraine in a single week targeting energy facilities, rail infrastructure and residential buildings.

Russia responded to its own domestic diesel shortage by banning diesel exports back in July, according to the Epoch Times, a move that further tightened global supply.

It's not just Ukraine

While Trump has focused his public pressure on the refinery strikes, CNN's reporting points to a broader set of causes. Oil futures have surged back above $100 a barrel amid the ongoing US-Iran war, and refineries in both the Middle East and Russia have sustained war damage. China, trying to avoid shortages at home, has also cut its own diesel exports.

"Refiners have already been maximizing the production of diesel. We simply can't get any more diesel out of the system," Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, told CNN. Goldman Sachs has separately warned clients that global food prices are at risk of rising sharply, tying the threat to soaring diesel and fertilizer costs. Diesel is critical for farm equipment, and the spike is hitting just as fall harvest season gets underway.

Only about 3% of American passenger cars run on diesel, but it powers nearly everything that moves freight: trucks, trains, tractors, boats and construction equipment. Trucking companies and freight railroads typically pass rising fuel costs to retailers and manufacturers through fuel surcharges, which often show up later as higher shelf prices.

Brazil feels it too

The squeeze isn't confined to the United States. Petrobras, Brazil's state-controlled oil company, wants to raise domestic diesel prices to close the gap with global benchmarks, according to Reuters reporting carried by TradingView. The company is waiting on the Brazilian government to finalize consumer protection measures first, including a new subsidy set at 1 real per liter on top of an existing subsidy of roughly 1.12 reais per liter.

According to Portal Energia Limpa, delays in publishing that subsidy ordinance from Brazil's Ministry of Finance have already contributed to tightening diesel supply in Rio Grande do Sul as planting season begins. Russian diesel imports to Brazil last month fell to less than one-tenth of August 2025 levels, with the United States now the primary supplier.

Petrobras has been compensated for holding prices down. According to Dealroom, the company received 2.568 billion reais (about €434 million) from Brazil's federal government in June alone, split across two payment tranches, bringing its total compensation under the subsidy scheme to 9.5 billion reais (about €1.6 billion) since the program launched. Despite absorbing the cost of capped consumer prices, Petrobras posted a first-half profit of $16.627 billion, up 55.3% year-on-year, on revenue of $57.142 billion.

What's unresolved

Zelenskyy has given no public indication he'll stop targeting Russian refineries, and Ukraine struck Russian oil facilities again as recently as September 12. Whether Trump's public pressure changes Kyiv's targeting calculus, or whether diesel keeps climbing regardless because of the Iran war and global refining shortfalls, remains unanswered by anything in the public record as of this week.