Diesel Average Falls 0.3 Cent to $2.503

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.

iesel fuel’s average national price fell 0.3 cent to $2.503 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported Monday.

The average nation price of gasoline declined 3.5 cents to $2.226 — 49.9 cents lower than the same week in 2005.

Diesel’s ninth consecutive decline follows a 4.9-cent drop last week. Prices are 64.5 cents lower than a year ago.

Diesel’s average fell in three of the five national regions, posting a 1.1 cent gain in the Midwest and rising 1.5 cents to $2.461 in the Gulf Coast region. In California, which DOE breaks out separately, the nation’s main trucking fuel fell 4.8 cents to $2.703.

Meanwhile, crude oil futures closed above $59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, rising on speculation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will agree on a production cut at an Oct. 19 meeting at its Vienna, Austria headquarters, Bloomberg reported.

Prices have rebounded since hitting a 2006 low last Tuesday of $57.59 as traders bet that the OPEC cut combined with a seasonal upswing in demand would put pressure on supplies, Bloomberg said.

Crude oil futures on Monday rose $1.38 to close at $59.98 a barrel.

Each week, DOE surveys 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.