Expert says record-high diesel prices will impact consumers, truckers for months – spectrumlocalnews.com

Expert says record-high diesel prices will impact consumers, truckers for months  spectrumlocalnews.com

It takes tons of diesel to fuel up the barges and vessels traveling from around the world and through the Houston Ship Channel in La Porte. TEXAS — An economic domino effect is playing out across the country and in Texas, as diesel prices remain at a record high. Economists say consumers may feel the impact for some time, as tensions in the Middle East continue. It takes tons of diesel to fuel up the barges and vessels traveling from around the world and through the Houston Ship Channel in La Porte, near the historic San Jacinto Battleground site about 20 miles east of Houston, transporting tones of freight, gasoline, jet fuel and diesel.

“The Port of Houston is the second busiest across the nation, but we are the petrochemical heart of America, and of course Texas and the Gulf Coast,” said Ed Hirs, an economics expert and professor at the University of Houston we spoke with on location. Diesel fuel also powers the ships that bring in crude oil and the refineries on the ship channel, where he says crude oil is refined and distributed. “Everything that we’re viewing here, diesel is at the backbone of those engines,” he said. Hirs says record-breaking diesel costs are affecting industries across the globe and here in Texas. “When Iran blockaded the