Motorcoach operators can expect to continue feeling considerable pain at the (fuel) pump during the remainder of this year and throughout 2008, say energy experts.

A lethal combination of record-high crude oil prices and strong worldwide demand for diesel fuel and other distillates guarantees the cost of diesel in the U.S. and Canada will be at an elevated level for the foreseeable future.

The tight supply conditions, combined with crude oil prices that were 73 percent higher last month than they were in January, resulted in diesel fuel posting an average pump price last month of more than $3 a gallon in virtually every section of the U.S.

The price of diesel fuel on the West Coast averaged nearly $3.23 a gallon in mid-October, or more than 57 cents a gallon higher than a year ago.

The price in Rocky Mountain states averaged nearly $3.17 a gallon, while the price was above $3.12 a gallon in New England and central Atlantic states.

Only along the Gulf Coast and in the lower Atlantic states was the price modestly below $3 a gallon.

As winter approaches, energy specialists are predicting diesel and home heating oil, which are very similar fuels, will post the biggest percentage price increases of all fossil fuels.

Until three years ago, the average price of diesel fuel was usually lower than the average price of gasoline. In some winters, when the demand for distillate heating oil was high, the price of diesel fuel rose above the gasoline price.

But since September 2004, the price of diesel fuel has been generally higher than the price of regular gasoline -- all year round -- for several reasons.

World demand for diesel fuel and other distillate fuel oils has been increasing steadily, with strong demand in China, Europe and the U.S. putting more pressure on the tight global refining capacity.

In the U.S., the transition during the past year to ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel (see article above) has affected diesel fuel production and distribution costs.

At the current price level, 61 percent of the price of a gallon of diesel fuel results from the cost of crude oil; 17 percent is refining costs, 6 percent is marketing and distribution costs, and 16 percent is taxes, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Early last month, spot shortages of diesel fuel sent prices skyrocketing in North Dakota. Diesel hit a record-high in Grand Forks of about $3.42 per gallon.

One state official said the shortage was largely the result of eight different refiners being shut down at the same time for maintenance, product switchovers, and efforts to build gasoline inventories.

The shortage was so severe in some places that suppliers reportedly started rationing fuel.