For the second consecutive week, and the first time since July, the benchmark diesel price, which is used for most fuel surcharges, saw a slight increase on Monday. The Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration reported a rise of just 0.5 cents per gallon, bringing the price to $3.544 per gallon. This follows a 1.3-cent increase from the previous week. These two consecutive increases occurred after a period of 10 straight weeks of declines.

The last time the price moved upward in back-to-back weeks was on July 1 and July 8. This relative price stability comes amid a degree of calm in oil prices, despite intensifying fighting in the Middle East. Oil markets appear to be disregarding the latest escalation between Israel and its surrounding Iranian proxies, particularly Hezbollah in Lebanon. The underlying reason remains consistent: no oil output is currently at risk, unless Israel were to significantly escalate its actions and target Iranian production facilities.

Ultra-low sulfur diesel on the CME commodity exchange traded within a narrow range over the last two weeks of September. Starting from a settlement of $2.1367 per gallon on September 17, it reached a high settlement of $2.1805 a week later, on September 24. Monday's settlement was $2.1318 per gallon, an increase of just 9 basis points from Friday and approximately 50 basis points lower than its September 17 settlement.

Instead, the market received several pieces of news that could be considered bearish. Hurricane Helene, by last Wednesday, had led to the shutdown of 511,000 barrels per day of oil production in the Gulf.