Retail diesel is near $6 and street margin is at its widest in a month

Retail diesel is 5.967 a gallon, up 13.5% over 30 days and sitting at the very top of its range. Every benchmark we track that feeds the pump moved the same direction, so this is a broad climb, not one odd print.

The part you can price against is the street margin. The retail-wholesale diesel spread is 1.30 a gallon now, up about 23 cents over the past month, and that is the widest it has been in the 30-day window. Retailers are holding more of each gallon than they were in August, even after wholesale rose with everything else. If you buy rack and sell retail, that gain is real money on volume right now.

Refiners did not get the same break. The 3:2:1 crack spread is 53.61, down 10.55 over the month. Crude climbed faster than product: WTI is 99.05 and Brent 103.84, both up around 17 to 19% and both at 100% of their 30-day range. When the barrel rises faster than diesel and gasoline, the refining margin gives ground, and that is what these numbers show. Petroleum inventories back the price move, at 424.46 and only 33% of their range, low for the month.

Watch the wholesale side next. ULSD futures are 4.671, at 92% of their range, so the input cost has a little room left to run. If it climbs the rest of the way, that 23-cent gain in street margin could get pinched back before the next load hits your tanks.