US diesel futures top $5 a gallon for first time since 2022

Diesel's return above $5 puts the distillate complex back in the same territory it occupied during the 2022 energy squeeze, a signal that tightness is being priced into the barrel's heaviest, most economically sensitive slice rather than into crude alone. That matters most for trucking, farming, heating and industrial users, where fuel is a direct operating cost rather than a tradable exposure. The open question is whether this is a seasonal heating-oil bid or a broader distillate supply problem — and whether the premium persists once the contract's link to winter demand fades.