XENIA — With people everywhere facing higher energy and fuel prices, President Trump announced a diesel deal with Russia.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 5, the President thinks this could save drivers money.
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The average price for a gallon of diesel in Ohio is $6.08, according to AAA.
“What do you think of gas prices lately?” News Center 7’s John Bedell asked a driver.
“They’ve been a little tough to swallow. We only go when we have to, to try to save money on gas,” said Shelley Gravenstine.
She said it impacts her family.
Gravenstine works on their farm. High diesel prices are impacting them.
“We only go when we have to, to try to save money on gas,” she said. “My husband uses diesel in the tractor, and yeah, it’s been pretty expensive. I think he hasn’t filled up for a while. He waits for it to go down and then he tries to do all his work at one time when it’s down.”
President Trump announced that Russia has agreed to provide the world with millions of gallons of diesel fuel over the next few months on Friday.
Bedell spoke with Dr. Jared Pinci, an economics associate professor at Cedarville University, if that amount of Russian diesel would help prices here in the United States.
“It’s a possibility that it will help. The details are a little vague at this point,” he said.
Diesel is widely used in the trucking, agriculture, and construction industries. Pincin said it’s a factor for almost every type of good, including groceries.
“If it’s being transported, if it’s being shipped, then it’s going to show up in the cost of the retailers and the wholesalers, and it just gets passed along the supply chain. Same thing with agriculture,” he said. “It’s at the beginning of the process, as to what is being planted, being harvested, and then shipped, so diesels in every stage of that production.”
Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that the national average for diesel reached an all-time high of $6.53 per gallon last month. Dr. Pincin mentioned a short-term energy outlook that the EIA published last week. The agency said it expects retail diesel prices to average about $4.50 per gallon next year.
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