Daily Deep Dive archive | Fuel Data Portal

Oct 24, 2026

Why did U.S. natural gas storage climb 8.7% to 3,644 Bcf over the past month?

U.S. natural gas storage is 3,644 Bcf now, up 8.7% over the past 30 days. That figure is also the 30-day high, and the 30-day low was 1,818 Bcf, close to half of where the number is today. So the question for anyone who buys gas…

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Oct 23, 2026

Why has U.S. gasoline price fallen 4.0% over the past month?

U.S. gasoline is 4.424, down 4.0% over the past 30 days. The obvious read is that the barrel underneath it got cheaper and the pump followed. I checked that first, and it fell apart immediately.

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Oct 22, 2026

Why has WTI crude climbed 5.1% in a month to 99.42?

WTI crude is 99.42, up 5.1% over the past month, and a buyer looking at that print wants to know whether it's a reason to lock in now or a number set to come back down. I pulled the full board of benchmarks to see what is…

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Oct 21, 2026

Why has the diesel retail-wholesale spread narrowed to 1.356 this month?

The spread, the per-gallon gap between what a retailer pays at the rack and what the pump charges, is 1.356 now, down 0.283 over the past 30 days. That gap is the retailer's gross margin on every gallon of diesel sold. A quarter…

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Oct 20, 2026

Why has Brent crude climbed 12.5% over the past month?

Brent is 111.7 this morning, up 12.5% over the past month, and that number is also the 30-day high. The low over the same stretch was 74.16. A move that size changes what a fuel operator pays for everything downstream, so the…

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Oct 19, 2026

Why has Henry Hub natural gas climbed 7.8% to 3.14 this month?

Henry Hub natural gas is 3.14, up 7.8% over the past thirty days. Gas runs the burners and process heat inside a refinery, and it shows up on the utility bill, so a move that size is worth running down before it lands in a…

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Oct 18, 2026

Why has ULSD diesel futures fallen 10.0% in a month while Brent rose 3.8%?

ULSD diesel futures are 4.723, down 10.0% over the past 30 days. Brent crude is 109.86 over the same stretch, up 3.8%. A finished product falling while its feedstock rises is unusual enough to check, so I pulled the rest of the…

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Oct 17, 2026

Why has RBOB gasoline fallen 7.2% to 3.235 this month while crude climbed?

RBOB gasoline is 3.235, down 7.2% over the past 30 days, off a 30-day high of 3.587 and a 30-day low of 2.756. Gasoline is the one big benchmark on my desk that fell while the thing it is made from went the other way. So the…

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Oct 16, 2026

Why did the 3:2:1 crack spread narrow to 55.38 this month?

The 3:2:1 crack spread is 55.38, down 13.22 over the past 30 days. That spread is the rough refining margin on a barrel of crude turned into gasoline and diesel, and a move that size in a month is worth tracing. Something on…

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Oct 14, 2026

Why has U.S. natural gas storage climbed 7.6% over the past month?

U.S. natural gas storage is 3500 now, up 7.6% over the past month, and that reading is also the 30-day high. The 30-day low was 1818, so stocks have close to doubled across the window our data covers. A build that size usually…

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Oct 13, 2026

Why has WTI crude fallen 10.1% to 92.1 this month?

WTI is 92.1, down 10.1% over the past thirty days. Over that same stretch the U.S. gasoline price rose 4.7%, to 4.496. Crude and the fuel made from it moved opposite directions, and I wanted to know which number was telling the…

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Oct 09, 2026

Why did the diesel retail-wholesale spread widen to 1.654 this month?

The diesel retail-wholesale spread is 1.654, up 0.354 over the past month. That gap is the retailer's gross margin on a gallon of diesel, the distance between what a station pays for the fuel and what it charges the truck. The…

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Oct 08, 2026

Why has Brent crude climbed 7.2% to 104.98 over the past month?

Brent crude is 104.98, up 7.2% over the past 30 days. A move that size changes what refiners pay for feedstock and what marketers pay at the rack, so the first thing worth knowing is whether demand pulled the price up or…

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Oct 07, 2026

Why has Henry Hub natural gas climbed 6.6% to 3.181 over the past month?

Henry Hub natural gas is 3.181, up 6.6% over the past thirty days. Gas is a running cost for any refinery making process heat and for anyone heating a building, so a jump that size is worth pinning down before winter sets the…

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Oct 06, 2026

Why has U.S. refinery utilization fallen to 92.5, down 5.6% in a month?

U.S. refinery utilization is 92.5, down 5.6% over the past 30 days, off a high of 98 and a low of 88.6. Less of the country's refining capacity is running than a month ago. A working fuel buyer wants to know why, and whether it…

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Oct 03, 2026

Why has RBOB gasoline climbed 6.7% to 3.312 over the past month?

RBOB gasoline, the wholesale contract that sets what most marketers pay for a gallon before taxes and freight, is 3.312, up 6.7% over the past month. For anyone buying fuel to resell, the move matters less than its cause. A…

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Oct 02, 2026

Why has U.S. natural gas storage climbed 6.3% to 3,415 in a month?

U.S. natural gas in storage is 3,415, up 6.3% over the past 30 days, and that figure is the high for the window. The low across the same stretch was 1,818. The question is what pushed it there, and whether a working fuel operator…

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Oct 01, 2026

Why has U.S. refinery utilization fallen 5.6% this past month?

U.S. refinery utilization is 92.5, down 5.6% over the past 30 days, off a 30-day high of 98. When refiners pull back on runs, the usual reason is that their margins went thin and running the plant stopped paying. This month the…

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Sep 30, 2026

Why has U.S. gasoline climbed 9.4% over the past month?

U.S. retail gasoline is 4.603, up 9.4% over the past thirty days. Any operator setting street prices wants to know what drove that and whether the climb has room left in it. The benchmarks give a clearer answer than the pump does.

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Sep 29, 2026

Why has U.S. diesel climbed 15.5% over the past month?

Diesel is at 6.529, up 15.5% over thirty days, and it is the number on the mind of anyone who runs a fleet or sells a rack. The question is simple. Diesel got a lot more expensive fast. I want to know what drove it and whether…

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Sep 28, 2026

Why has the diesel retail-wholesale spread widened to 1.639?

The diesel retail-wholesale spread is 1.639, up 0.255 over the past month. The spread measures what a retailer clears between the rack price it pays and the pump price it charges. It widened while wholesale diesel was climbing…

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Sep 27, 2026

Why has the 3:2:1 crack spread narrowed to 59.31 this month?

The 3:2:1 crack spread is 59.31, down 11.06 over the past month. That number stands in for refiner margin on paper, three barrels of crude turned into two of gasoline and one of diesel. The question is what pulled it down, and…

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Sep 26, 2026

Why has Brent crude climbed 18.8% in the past month?

Brent is 104.32, up 18.8% over the past 30 days, and a customer buying on a rack tied to it is paying for that whether or not anyone has told him why. I went through what our data desk pulled to see what is actually driving it.

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Sep 14, 2026

Why did Henry Hub natural gas rise only 6.1% this month?

Henry Hub natural gas is 2.9, up 6.1% over the past 30 days. Every other number on my screen moved more, some of them a lot more, so the small move is the thing worth explaining. A fuel operator watching diesel go vertical wants…

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Sep 13, 2026

Why has WTI crude climbed 20.2% over the past month?

WTI crude is 100.05, up 20.2% over the past thirty days, back above a hundred after touching a low of 68.25 in that same window. For a fuel operator, the first thing to know about a jump that size is whether it is a WTI quirk or…

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Sep 12, 2026

Why has ULSD diesel futures climbed 15.2% in a month?

ULSD diesel futures are 4.959 a gallon, up 15.2% over the past thirty days. A working fleet owner already feels that at the rack, and the question is plain: what is actually pushing the number, and is it the kind of thing that…

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Sep 11, 2026

Why did U.S. gasoline climb just 3.7% this month while crude gained 19.2%?

U.S. gasoline is 4.295, up 3.7% over the past month. In a month when crude did far more than that, a 3.7% move at the pump is the number worth a closer look, because it does not match what happened underneath it.

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Sep 10, 2026

Why has U.S. natural gas storage climbed 4.2% over the past month?

U.S. natural gas storage is 107.411, up 4.2% over the past month. For a metric that usually only reaches an operator's screen during a cold snap, a full month of building is worth a look, because gas is a real cost inside every…

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Sep 08, 2026

Why has the U.S. diesel price climbed 4.7% over the past month?

The U.S. diesel price is 5.599 a gallon, up 4.7% over the past thirty days, with a high of 5.652 and a low of 3.459 across that window. For anyone buying fuel by the truckload, the question is what pushed it there and whether the…

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Sep 07, 2026

Why did the 3:2:1 crack spread only widen to 62.09 while crude jumped 17%?

The 3:2:1 crack spread is 62.09, up 2.05 over the past thirty days. Over that same month WTI crude rose 17.0%. A crack spread is what a refiner earns turning three barrels of crude into two of gasoline and one of diesel, so when…

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Sep 06, 2026

Why did the diesel retail-wholesale spread narrow to 1.104 this month?

The diesel retail-wholesale spread is 1.104 now, down 0.367 over the past thirty days. The spread is the gap between what a station charges at the pump and what the fuel cost coming off the rack, and it moved a third of a point…

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Sep 05, 2026

Why has Brent crude climbed 21.2% in a month, and what does that do to fuel operators?

Brent crude is 96.28, up 21.2% over the past thirty days. A move that size on the world's main crude benchmark changes the cost of everything downstream of it, so the question a fuel operator is already asking is what pushed it…

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Sep 04, 2026

Why has WTI Crude Oil Price climbed 20.7% over the past month?

WTI is now 90.82, up 20.7% over the past 30 days, off a 30-day low of 68.25. A move that size in a month is worth stopping on, because it decides what a fuel operator pays for product before anything else in the business happens.…

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Sep 03, 2026

Why did Henry Hub natural gas climb 11.7% to $2.996/MMBtu this past month?

Henry Hub natural gas is $2.996/MMBtu, up 11.7% over the past thirty days. Operators who buy gas for process heat or run gas-fired equipment want to know whether that is the front edge of a bigger move or the tail of one. So I…

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Sep 02, 2026

Why has U.S. petroleum inventory climbed 6.0% over the past month?

U.S. petroleum inventory is up 6.0% over the past 30 days, now 428.91 million barrels. A build usually comes with softer prices, because more oil in tanks means more supply chasing the same demand. That is not what happened this…

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Sep 01, 2026

Why has ULSD diesel climbed 10.5% in a month?

ULSD futures are 4.483, up 10.5% over the past thirty days. That is a real cost jump for anyone who buys diesel by the rack and sells it by the gallon, so the question is worth an hour: what moved it, and how much of the move is…

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Aug 31, 2026

Why has U.S. diesel climbed to $5.652, up 6.4% over the past month?

Diesel is 5.652 today, up 6.4% over the past 30 days, and that same number is the 30-day high. A price at the top of its own month is the kind of thing an operator feels before payroll does, so the question is plain: what pushed…

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Aug 30, 2026

Why has RBOB gasoline fallen to 3.05, down 10.2% in a month?

RBOB gasoline is $3.05 a gallon today, down 10.2% over the past thirty days. A month ago the same benchmark touched 3.761. The obvious read is that crude got cheaper and pulled every product down with it, and if that held, the…

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Aug 29, 2026

Why has U.S. natural gas storage climbed 3.2% to 3,184 this month?

Natural gas storage is 3,184, up 3.2% over the past 30 days. A working operator sees a number like that and wants to know one thing before it shows up in a price: is more gas piling up because demand fell off, or because we are…

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Aug 28, 2026

Why has U.S. natural gas storage climbed 7.0% over the past month?

U.S. natural gas storage reads 109.483 now, up 7.0% over the past 30 days, and it is at its 30-day high. A build that size usually points one way for the price. The price went the other way.

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Aug 27, 2026

Why did the 3:2:1 crack spread narrow to 57.8 this month?

The 3:2:1 crack spread is 57.8, down 14.42 over the past 30 days. The number is the theoretical margin on turning three barrels of crude into two of gasoline and one of diesel, and a working refiner watches it the way a trucker…

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Aug 26, 2026

Why has the diesel retail-wholesale spread widened to 1.384 this month?

The diesel retail-wholesale spread is 1.384 now, up 0.183 over the past 30 days. The spread is the retailer's gross margin on a gallon, the gap between what the street charges and what the marketer pays at the rack. It widened…

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Aug 25, 2026

Why did Brent fall 4.3% to 87.97 this month while diesel climbed 6.2%?

Brent crude is 87.97, down 4.3% over the past month. That is a strange direction for a month when the wire is full of Middle East supply scares and burning refineries. India's import bill rose sharply because the Iran war choked…

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Aug 24, 2026

Why has WTI crude fallen 4.6% over the past month?

WTI crude is 85.19, down 4.6% over the past thirty days. A drop that size changes what an operator pays for the next load, so the question is what pushed it down and whether the same force is still working.

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Aug 23, 2026

Why have U.S. petroleum inventories climbed 4.2% in a month, and what does it mean for fuel operators?

The inventory reading is 428.815, up 4.2% over the past 30 days. A working operator sees a build like that and wants to know what filled the tanks, because the answer decides whether cheaper product is coming or whether one…

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Aug 22, 2026

Why has Henry Hub natural gas fallen 5.2% to 2.773 this month?

Henry Hub natural gas is 2.773, down 5.2% over the past thirty days, off a high of 3.343. A fuel operator watching that number wants two things from it: why it fell, and whether it changes anything they pay for. I went at both.

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Aug 21, 2026

Why has ULSD diesel climbed 5.5% this past month?

ULSD diesel futures are $4.376/gal, up 5.5% over the past 30 days, off a low of $3.093/gal and near a high of $4.48/gal. A fuel operator is already carrying that question into September, because a rising diesel number shows up in…

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Aug 20, 2026

Why has U.S. diesel climbed 6.2% to $5.454/gal while gasoline fell?

A gallon of diesel now costs $5.454, up 6.2% over the past month. A month is not a long window, and most of the time diesel and gasoline drift together because they come off the same barrel. This time they did not. So the…

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Aug 19, 2026

Why has RBOB gasoline fallen 10.7% in a month while diesel climbed?

RBOB gasoline is $3.026, down 10.7% over the past thirty days, off a high of $3.772. Nearly every headline on my wire this month says refined products are getting more expensive. So why is gasoline moving the other way?

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Aug 16, 2026

Why did the 3:2:1 crack spread narrow to 57.23 this month?

The 3:2:1 crack spread is 57.23 now, down 10.87 over the past 30 days. The crack is a rough read on refining margin: the value of the gasoline and diesel a barrel yields, set against the cost of the crude that went in. When it…

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Aug 15, 2026

Why has U.S. natural gas storage climbed 12.3% in the past month?

U.S. natural gas storage is now 104.974, up 12.3% over the past 30 days, off a low of 71.675. A move that size in one month is worth understanding before deciding whether it changes anything you do.

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Jul 27, 2026

Why has WTI crude climbed 20.1% over the past month?

WTI closed the month at 83.16, up 20.1% over the past thirty days. A move that size raises fuel costs within a week, so a jobber has a fair question: what pushed it, and is the push over.

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Jul 26, 2026

Why has Brent crude climbed 31.2% in a month, and what does it mean for fuel operators?

Brent crude is 96.78, up 31.2 percent over the past 30 days. Crude is the base cost under every gallon an operator buys, so a one-month move that size is worth understanding before it works its way to the rack. The question is…

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Jul 25, 2026

Why has the diesel retail-wholesale spread narrowed to 1.015 over the past month?

The diesel retail-wholesale spread is 1.015 now, down 0.724 over the past 30 days. A spread that moves that far in a month has one big number behind it somewhere. The question for this issue is which one.

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Jul 24, 2026

Why did ULSD jump 30.4% in 30 days while the retail diesel spread fell $0.724 a gallon?

ULSD futures are $4.143/gal, up 30.4% over the past 30 days. Over that same stretch the diesel retail-wholesale spread went the other way, down $0.724 to $1.015/gal. What follows is where that move came from and what the spread…

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Jul 14, 2026

Why has the 3:2:1 crack spread widened to 58.72 when crude is climbing?

The 3:2:1 crack spread is 58.72, up 11.22 over the past 30 days. Refining margins normally get thinner when crude gets more expensive, and crude has been getting more expensive: OilPrice reports Brent and WTI both advancing on…

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Jul 13, 2026

Crude just jumped 4% on the last print. Is the 57.26 crack spread about to close?

The 3:2:1 crack spread is $57.26, up $9.08 over the past month. Crude fell over that same stretch. The question is whether refining margins improved because products held their value or because crude fell out from under them, and…

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Jul 11, 2026

Refinery strikes abroad are propping up product prices. Is that a margin you can plan on?

The 3:2:1 crack spread is 61.9, up 14.28 over the past 30 days. That number is the rough margin a refiner earns turning three barrels of crude into two of gasoline and one of diesel, and it moved a long way in a month. The…

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Jul 10, 2026

Refining margins hit record highs while crude collapsed. What is holding fuel prices up?

The 3:2:1 crack spread is 57.56, up 9.94 over the past thirty days. Crude fell hard over that same month. A spread that widens while its main input collapses is worth pulling apart, because the answer decides who has been earning…

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Jul 09, 2026

The crack spread says 57.96. How much of that does a refiner actually bank?

The 3:2:1 crack spread is 57.96, up 11.98 over the past thirty days. A move that size normally means refiners are getting paid more for gasoline and diesel than they were a month ago. Neither product is up.

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Jul 07, 2026

Saudi Arabia cut its crude price to Asia by $11 a barrel. Who is collecting on it?

The 3:2:1 crack spread is 54.81, up 9.73 over the past 30 days. It measures the gap between what a refiner pays for a barrel of crude and what it gets back selling two parts gasoline and one part diesel, so a wider crack means a…

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Jul 05, 2026

Why did street diesel prices fall faster than the retailer's own cost?

The 3:2:1 crack spread is 54.48, up 8.94 over the past 30 days. That number is a refiner's rough margin: the value of two barrels of gasoline and one of diesel against the three barrels of crude it takes to make them. When it…

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Jul 04, 2026

OPEC put 3.3 million barrels a day back on the water. Where did the margin go?

The 3:2:1 crack spread is 54.48, up 8.94 over the past 30 days. That number is the rough gross margin a refiner earns turning three barrels of crude into two of gasoline and one of diesel. The question worth an operator's time is…

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Jul 03, 2026

Crude lost a quarter of its value in a month. Who kept the money?

The 3:2:1 crack spread is $54.45 a barrel, up $8.91 over the past 30 days. That spread is the theoretical margin a refiner earns turning three barrels of crude into two of gasoline and one of diesel, and it just moved the…

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Jun 29, 2026

Every fuel price fell last month, so why did refining margins improve?

The 3:2:1 crack spread is 54.76, up 5.05 over the past 30 days. The spread is the refiner's rough gross margin: three barrels of crude in, two barrels of gasoline and one of diesel out, priced at the difference. A move that size…

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