Diesel Average Rises 3.9¢ to $2.409, 10.5¢ Cheaper Than Year Ago
The U.S. diesel average price rose 3.9 cents to $2.409 per gallon last week, according to the Department of Energy, as the price of crude hovered near $47 amid speculation the glut of oil could be easing.
Diesel was 10.5 cents cheaper than it was a year ago when the price was $2.514, DOE said after its Aug. 29 survey of fueling stations.
It was diesel’s second weekly increase in a row after seven consecutive weeks of lower prices, and prices climbed in all regions, DOE said.
Diesel was highest in California at $2.741. It was lowest in the Gulf Coast region, at $2.269.
The U.S. average price of regular gasoline climbed 4.4 cents per gallon to $2.237, 27.3 cents cheaper than a year ago, DOE’s Energy Information Administration reported.
It was gasoline’s second rise in a row - it jumped 4.4 cents the week before, too - after nine consecutive weekly declines. All regions posted higher gasoline prices, EIA said.
Gasoline was highest on the West Coast at $2.592 and lowest in the Gulf Coast region at $2.009.
Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed at $46.98 per barrel Aug. 29. That price compared with $47.64 on Aug. 26.
Meanwhile, oil investors are turning the car around, Bloomberg News said Aug. 29. For a second week, money managers slashed bets on falling prices by a record and boosted wagers on a rally. Futures have climbed 23% in less than three weeks as some members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries raised the possibility of an output freeze amid signs the global glut is easing.
"This is a lot of running from one side of the boat to the other," Tim Evans, an energy analyst at Citi Futures Perspective in New York, told Bloomberg. "Speculators were selling with both hands in July and buying with both hands this month."
U.S. average #Diesel fuel price on 8/29/16= $2.409/gal, UP $0.039 from week ago https://t.co/vMfPCC7eC7 #truckers pic.twitter.com/6mkPvDWcUa — EIA (@EIAgov) August 29, 2016
