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The U.S. average retail price of diesel vaulted 15.3 cents to $2.758 a gallon — its largest jump in 6½ years — as demand spiked while refineries in the Houston area reported difficulty restarting operations after the stubborn flood left by Hurricane Harvey.

Driver hours-of-service rules are being relaxed in 26 states and the District of Columbia under a state of emergency announced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Aug. 31.

As much as 10% of U.S. fracking work could be delayed after Hurricane Harvey ripped through southeast Texas, soaking thousands of miles of dirt roads snaking through one of the nation’s busiest oilfields.

DALLAS — Drivers lined up at gas pumps in parts of Texas Aug. 31 as more stations ran out of gas and prices rose steeply in response to Hurricane Harvey’s impact on Gulf Coast refineries.

Four California senators have called for significantly increasing state funding to curtail pollutants from trucks and buses.

The U.S. government is releasing half-a-million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to a Gulf Coast refinery as the region’s refining industry works to recover from the devastation of Harvey.

A notice from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to revisit parts of the Phase 2 final rule on greenhouse gas emissions from heavy- and medium-duty trucks isn’t likely to create changes quickly, as the agency has not presented plans for expedited action and environmental groups are vowing to pursue a challenge in a federal appeals court — once the case is no longer being held in abeyance.

DALLAS — Hurricane Harvey is sending pump prices higher for U.S. motorists and causing temporary shifts in the flow of oil and gasoline around the world after taking down a huge chunk of U.S. refining capacity.

Parked east of the California Capitol steps was a long line of vehicles as clean as they were large, including a yellow school bus, a UPS delivery truck and an AC Transit bus — all with electric or hybrid motors.