Why is diesel fuel more expensive than gasoline?

It used to be half the price of normal gas. I don’t know why it jumped so high?

The sulfur it contains naturally must be removed to help with emissions.

From the US Energy Information Administration:

On-highway diesel fuel prices have been higher than regular grade gasoline prices, on a dollar per gallon basis, almost continuously since September 2004. This trend is a break from the previous historical pattern of diesel fuel prices usually being lower than gasoline prices except in cold winters when demand for heating oil pushed diesel fuel prices higher. There are three main reasons why diesel fuel prices have been higher than regular gasoline prices in recent years:

Demand for diesel fuel and other distillate fuel oils has been relatively high, especially in Europe, China, India, and the United States.
The transition to less polluting, lower-sulfur diesel fuels in the United States affected diesel fuel production and distribution costs.
The federal excise tax for on-highway diesel fuel of 24.3 cents per gallon is 6 cents per gallon higher than the federal excise tax on gasoline.

My opinion is that item 1 is the most influential in keeping prices high.

You pay more tax on it.

Diesel fuel has a higher energy content per unit volume than gasoline.
(I’m sorry these are English units but I know these off the top pf my head.)
Diesel: 139,000 BTU per gallon
Gasoline: 124,000 BTU per gallon
So, theoretically, you can argue the price is close if you base it upon energy content.
Taxes and production rations and demand are by far the dominant factors.

Back in the gas crisis of the 70’s diesel was considerably cheaper. That’s when diesel cars became popular. My guess is that diesel has become more pricey because enough people are using it to justify increasing the company’s profits!!! I noticed that in my area last year that diesel had dropped to a good bit lower than regular gas & sometime this year (I didn’t pay attention to exactly when) it jumped back up to considerably more. I see it as a corporate raping!!!

It depends where you live. In some places it is cheaper. It is also taxed differently because it’s use in utility vehicles. I have no idea why you say it is more expensive. You need to look at why yourself because it is obviously a local issue.

I live in North Georgia & diesel is $1.00/gal higher than regular gas. I’m old enough to remember the gas crisis of the ‘70s & the lure of buying a diesel car was that diesel fuel was 75 cent to a dollar a gallon cheaper than the cheap gas at the time. Now that people are willingly buying diesel cars, my guess is that it’s greed that creates the prices. Most of us can’t afford to trade our vehicle just because we don’t like the price of the fuel we have to put in them & we are at the mercy of corporate greed!!!

Profit motive.

@rojo. Exactly. It’s much simpler and cheaper to refine. “Market forces, my eye”.