Crude-Diesel Price Gap Widens to Extreme as European Diesel Nears $170

Jeff Currie, a senior commodities economist, told CNBC in an interview reported by Oilprice.com on Tuesday, August 18, 2026 (27 Mordad 1405), that while Brent crude was trading around $90.94 a barrel that day, the barrel equivalent price of European diesel had reached about $170, nearly double Brent. He said roughly 100 million to 120 million barrels of crude are stuck within the Strait of Hormuz, and reduced refinery runs in China have shifted the shortage from crude oil to refined products. Currie noted gasoline is up about 30 percent from a year earlier and diesel about 46 percent, directly pushing up transport and industrial costs.