Oil is heading south again, down a dollar. Just in case you think our corporation give a shit about us, an emailer asked me why the price of diesel fuel is going up and not down. Well our corporate slugs, patriotic to the almighty buck, found they could sell diesel fuel in Europe for a higher price than here, so they sold it. Our truckers pay through the ass and of course these costs are passed on to us.

Citgo, Premcor Refine More Diesel for Europe; U.S. Prices Rise

Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Oil refiners such as Citgo Petroleum Corp. and Premcor Inc. are shipping a record amount of diesel to Europe for use in automobiles, boosting costs in the U.S. for truck fuel and home heating oil.

U.S. diesel exports to Europe climbed to 7.65 million barrels during the first eight months of this year, from 618,000 barrels a year earlier, according to data from the Energy Department. Europe now consumes the equivalent of 13 percent of the fuel produced by East Coast refiners.

``Demand for diesel is at an extraordinary level,'' said Premcor Chairman Thomas O'Malley, who runs the company from Old Greenwich, Connecticut, during a conference call on Oct. 28. ``There's a lot more trucks, planes and trains moving around, and we're seeing a pretty substantial outflow of diesel to Europe.''

The average price of diesel has risen 42 percent to $2.13 a gallon this year, after climbing above $2 a gallon in the U.S. for the first time on Sept. 27, according to the U.S. Energy Department. Oil-industry profits have surged 36 percent this year to $64.3 billion, based on the 13-member AMEX Oil Index, which includes, Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP Plc.

Consumers will likely bear the brunt of the increases. Truckers, who are the biggest consumers of diesel with more than 35 billion gallons a year in the U.S., have been able to pass on the additional costs to manufacturers and retailers, said Jack Waldo, a trucking-industry analyst at Little Rock, Arkansas-based investment bank Stephens Inc. Homeowners who use heating oil, which is similar to diesel, will have record bills.

France gets the fuel and we get the shaft.