Former State Department energy envoy on how the war in Iran is impacting gas prices

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to former State Department energy envoy David Goldwyn about how the war in Iran continues to affect gas and diesel prices.

By Bay News Staff United States Published Sunday, September 6, 2026, 12:20 PM ET

Photo: NPR

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UNITED STATES: NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to former State Department energy envoy David Goldwyn about how the war in Iran continues to affect gas and diesel prices.

The U.S. military said it struck three Iranian oil tankers yesterday and that it attacked the vessels after Iran fired ballistic missiles at a U.S. aircraft carrier and destroyer. This flare-up in fighting is having a big impact on the energy markets. Diesel fuel prices hit a record high this morning, up more than 50% since the start of the war. David Goldwyn served as an energy envoy for the State Department during the Obama administration and joins us now. Good morning, David.

DAVID GOLDWYN: Good morning, Ayesha. Good to be with you again.

RASCOE: Let's start with diesel. It's used by many businesses to run factories and equipment. Why are we seeing record prices right now?

GOLDWYN: Well, there are really three reasons, Ayesha. First is that the refineries use crude oil to make diesel. And so the price of crude is up, so that puts some upward pressure on it. But the real challenge is that we've lost almost 3 million barrels a day of refining capacity from the Persian Gulf. And it was a major refiner of the, what they call these middle distillates, jet fuel and diesel.

The other reason is that Ukrainian attacks on Russian infrastructure, both its ports and its refining capacity, has led to a loss of almost 330,000 barrels a day in Russian exports of diesel. They were another big refiner. And so they have an export ban, and they're using that more for domestic consumption.

So you put those two things together, and you have a lot more countries competing for a much smaller supply of diesel. That's making the prices go up. And unlike crude, which you can get from a lot of places, you can't build another refinery really quickly. And so there's no way to replace that other than by the market forces of high prices.

This Bay News report is based on originating coverage from NPR.

This Bay News report is based on official statements and reporting from NPR. Read the originating dispatch.