Diesel's retail-wholesale spread is 1.015, narrower than a month ago

The retail-wholesale spread on diesel is 1.015 now, narrower than it was a month ago. Wholesale went up and the pump has not kept pace, so every gallon you sell today carries less cushion than the same gallon carried in late June. If you price off the rack and hold your street number steady out of habit, that habit is costing you on every gallon you pump.

ULSD futures are 4.139, up 30.3% over 30 days, and 75 percent of the way up a 30-day range that runs 3.093 to 4.496. Crude has moved less. WTI is 89.69, up 27.5%, and 48 percent of the way up its own range. Product is running ahead of the barrel, and that shows in the 3:2:1 crack spread at 59.18, wider by 4.36 over the same 30 days. Refiners are being paid well for the conversion right now, which is a fair return on the crude they bought and ran. The cost of it lands on whoever buys the finished gallon.

One line is going the other way. Henry Hub is 2.933, down 8.9% in 30 days, and storage is 99.776, sitting 98 percent of the way up its 30-day range. Cheap gas with full storage takes a little pressure off store overhead, off heat, and it is one of the few numbers on this page moving in an operator's favor this month.

With ULSD at 75 percent of its 30-day range and the crack spread still widening, wholesale could keep pushing before retail catches up, and the street spread may stay tight into next week.