Diesel street margin tightened about 28 cents to $1.356 a gallon

The diesel retail-wholesale spread is $1.356 a gallon now, down 0.283 over the past 30 days. That is roughly 28 cents of street margin gone in a month on every gallon of diesel you move. Retail diesel eased to 6.276, down 3.9%, so the pump side gave back a little while your cost to buy the gallon held firmer. The squeeze is the gap closing from both ends at once.

The firm end is crude. WTI is 101.4, up 10.0% over 30 days, and it is at the 86 percent mark of its range, with a low of 73.69 and a high of 105.83. Brent is 110.36, up 7.1%, at 92 percent of its range. Both benchmarks are near the top, which keeps wholesale diesel from falling as fast as the pump does.

Gasoline is the other side. RBOB is 3.119, down 13.0% over 30 days, and it is low at the 37 percent mark of its range. Crude up and the gasoline end down pulled the 3:2:1 crack to 52.55, down 22.6 in a month. That is a much thinner margin on the product barrel than refiners had four weeks ago, and it is the clearest single move here. If you buy rack gasoline, your cost there has come down with RBOB even as diesel stays heavy.

So the split is plain: diesel is the tight product right now, gasoline is the loose one. Price your two grades like they are two different markets this week, because that is what they are.

WTI near the top of its 30-day range may keep wholesale diesel firm, so your diesel street margin could stay pinched until crude backs off or you can hold a wider pump price.