{"id":467301,"date":"2026-09-17T23:52:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T23:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/467301\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T23:52:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T23:52:16","slug":"oil-expert-low-sulfur-rules-refinery-shifts-and-conflicts-are-driving-diesel-prices-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/467301\/","title":{"rendered":"Oil expert: low-sulfur rules, refinery shifts and conflicts are driving diesel prices up"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif (KBAK\/KBFX) Diesel drivers in Bakersfield are paying a steep premium at the pump, with prices far outpacing gasoline as a mix of global conflict and California-specific factors squeeze supply.<\/p>\n

The average price per gallon of diesel in Bakersfield is $8.20 a gallon, compared with gas averaging $6.37 a gallon.<\/p>\n

Stuart Heisler, an oil expert with more than 40 years of experience in energy engineering with Anacapa Engineering and Design, said part of the price gap traces back to changes in how diesel is produced.<\/p>\n

\"Oil<\/p>\n

Oil expert: low-sulfur rules, refinery shifts and conflicts are driving diesel prices up (Photo by Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201c20 years ago, we changed the way diesel has to be made to have a lot lower sulfur and that\u2019s the point in which diesel all of a sudden became more expensive than gas,\u201d Heisler said.<\/p>\n

Heisler said there are multiple reasons for higher diesel prices, including ongoing wars and state regulations. <\/p>\n

He said state policies have also played a role in diesel costs in California.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur state government reducing production and pushing refineries out of state to the point where here in California we have to rely on imports for diesel,\u201d Heisler said.<\/p>\n

He also cited international conflicts as a factor, including the war in Iran and the war in Ukraine. <\/p>\n

Heisler said Ukraine\u2019s successful attacks on Russian oil infrastructure have affected diesel supplies.<\/p>\n

\"Oil<\/p>\n

Oil expert: low-sulfur rules, refinery shifts and conflicts are driving diesel prices up (KBAK\/KBFX)<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd a lot of their diesel is out. So again, the whole supply for the world is down,\u201d Heisler said.<\/p>\n

At a campaign rally in North Carolina on Tuesday, President Trump argued that higher gas prices are worth it to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n

\"Oil<\/p>\n

Oil expert: low-sulfur rules, refinery shifts and conflicts are driving diesel prices up (KBAK\/KBFX)<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a little higher, you have a higher gas. It\u2019s a very inexpensive price to pay for what we\u2019ve done. Remember that. It\u2019s a little more. Even if, frankly, even if it was a lot more, but that\u2019s going to be tumbling down. That\u2019s going to be like a rocket ship in reverse,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif (KBAK\/KBFX) Diesel drivers in Bakersfield are paying a steep premium at the pump, with prices far…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-467301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}