Diesel is now averaging $6.27 a gallon nationwide, a record high, according to OPIS data going back to 2000. Prices closed higher for a seventh consecutive day.
California's average price per gallon, now $8.21, is the highest in the nation. The state first reached the $8-mark Friday. Washington and Hawaii are in second and third place, with their average prices above $7.
"Fuel margins have yet to catch up with previous wholesale hikes," wrote Tom Kloza, chief energy advisor at Gulf Oil on social media.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) said he would be "open to considering" an export ban on diesel, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.