Diesel Average Dips 0.2¢ to $2.407 Per Gallon
The U.S. diesel average price dipped 0.2 cent to $2.407 per gallon last week, the Department of Energy reported, as the price of crude fell below $44 a barrel before rebounding amid uncertainty about production levels.
Diesel was 12.7 cents cheaper than it was a year ago, when the price was $2.537, DOE said after its Sept. 5 survey of fueling stations.
Diesel prices were mixed across the country, rising in the West Coast, Rocky Mountain and Central Atlantic regions and falling elsewhere.
The U.S. average price of regular gasoline dropped 1.4 cents per gallon to $2.223, or 21.4 cents cheaper than a year ago, DOE’s Energy Information Administration reported.
Gas prices fell in three regions - the Lower Atlantic, Midwest and Gulf Coast - and climbed in the others.
Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed at $44.83 per barrel Sept. 6, down from $46.35 on Aug. 30.
Meanwhile, EIA said the U.S. average retail price for regular gasoline was $2.24 a gallon Aug. 29, the lowest price on the Monday before Labor Day since 2004, and 27 cents lower than the same time last year.
Lower crude oil prices are the main factor behind falling U.S. gasoline prices, reflecting continued high global crude oil and petroleum product inventories and increased drilling activity in the United States, according to EIA.
The world’s top two crude-oil producers at the G-20 Summit in China pledged to cooperate to stabilize global markets while failing to announce specific measures to bolster prices, Bloomberg News reported Sept. 5.
While Russian-Saudi cooperation has yet to yield firm steps toward steadying the market, a joint press conference between the oil giants is rare. It shows a growing trust and understanding that collaboration is vital to oil’s recovery, the ministers said, according to Bloomberg.
In a joint statement, the two countries confirmed they will hold further talks during the International Energy Forum in Algiers this month, Bloomberg said.
