The Oil Price Rally Is Bad. The Diesel Crisis Is Far Worse

Winston Churchill famously referred to Russia in 1939 as a series of layers: a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Very much like a matryoshka doll. The oil market of 2022 is a bit similar: a tight crude market, wrapping an even scarcer oil feedstock market, enclosing a diesel market in crisis mode.

Oil benchmarks Brent and West Texas Intermediate tend to grab the attention of financial markets. However, regular consumers — households and businesses — don’t buy crude; they purchase refined petroleum products such as diesel and gasoline. Now, there isn’t much diesel to buy.