The Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration benchmark used for most fuel surcharges rose 24.4 cents a gallon to $6.529, effective Monday and published Tuesday, marking its ninth increase in 11 weeks and another all-time high. Since the increase cycle began at $4.578 a gallon on July 6, the benchmark has climbed $1.951 a gallon. Diesel futures have moved in the opposite direction: ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD), the futures contract that helps establish pump prices, fell from a record settlement of $5.262 a gallon on Tuesday, September 15, to $4.8895 on Monday and $4.7939 by about 9:25 a.m. Tuesday. The decline was linked to reports that Saudi Arabia was progressing on repairs to its east-west crude pipeline and to expectations of improved oil and LNG flows through the Strait of Hormuz, alongside speculation about possible U.S.-Iranian diplomatic contact at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. J.P. Morgan's commodities team said it lacked a baseline view of the Iran conflict's endgame, after earlier assumptions about economic thresholds including $100 Brent and gasoline near $5 a gallon were overtaken by events. Debate has also emerged over a U.S. diesel-export ban. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry supported the idea, but Dallas Fed energy expert Garrett Golding argued it would mainly lower prices in the Gulf Coast while tightening global diesel supplies, raising costs for import-dependent regions and potentially reducing refinery production of diesel, gasoline, jet fuel and other products.