Average Diesel Price Plunges 4.7 Cents to $2.069, DOE Says

he average price for retail diesel fuel dropped 4.7 cents a gallon to $2.069, the Department of Energy reported Monday.

Diesel was unchanged the previous week, but has declined a total of 14.3 cents over a six-week span since hitting its all-time high of $2.212 on Oct. 25. The most recent price was the lowest since $2.053 on Oct. 4.

Trucking burns about 650 million gallons of diesel each week, meaning the industry was saving more than $90 million in diesel expenses compared with the last week in October, based on retail prices.

DOE also said Monday the average U.S. retail price for regular gasoline fell 3.4 cents to $1.911 a gallon.

It was the sixth decline in seven weeks and left diesel at its lowest since Sept. 20. Trucking burns about 290 million gallons of gasoline each week.

Gasoline is 43.5 cents higher than a year earlier.

Also Monday, the price of crude oil rose from a three-month low after an attack in Saudi Arabia boosted concern attacks could threaten oil shipments, Bloomberg reported.

Crude oil for January delivery rose 46 cents, or 1.1%, to $43 a barrel at the close of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil plunged 14% last week, the biggest decline since March 2003, and is down significantly from a record of $55.67 on Oct. 25.

Analysts including Trilby Lundberg have said the recent decline in motor fuel prices was related to the drop in crude oil prices, the Associated Press reported.

DOE said that diesel declined throughout the country last week, led by a 6.2-cent fall in California to 2.225. The price fell more than 5 cents to $1.995 in the Gulf Coast states, marking the first time since Sept. 27 diesel has been below $2 per gallon anywhere in the country.