Diesel Average Slips 0.8¢ to $2.399 a Gallon
The U.S. diesel average price slipped 0.8 cent to $2.399 per gallon, according to a Department of Energy survey of fueling stations released Sept. 12, as the price of crude continued to fluctuate.
Diesel was 11.8 cents cheaper than it was a year ago, when the price was $2.517, according to the DOE survey.
Average prices fell in all regions except California and the West Coast, where they were higher by 1 cent and 0.2 cent, respectively.
The price fell the most in the lower Atlantic, dropping 1.2 cents.
“Fuel is a major concern. It’s one of our top expenses,” said Brian Matthews, vice president of operations at truckload carrier American Central Transport.
The Liberty, Missouri-based privately held carrier has a 300-tractor fleet of both company trucks and owner-operators, Matthews said. It purchases about 100,000 gallons of diesel fuel per quarter, he said.
“So we are constantly monitoring and reviewing our truck specs, including automatic and manual transmissions, to make purchasing decisions for future years, and comparing manufacturers across the board, trying to get the top mpg that we can out of our equipment,” Matthews said.
Those actions have led to a 4% increase in fuel economy in the second quarter of this year, compared with the same period in 2015, he said.
The U.S. average price of regular gasoline dropped 2.1 cents per gallon to $2.202, 17.3 cents cheaper than a year ago, DOE’s Energy Information Administration also reported Sept. 12.
Gasoline prices rose in the Rocky Mountain, West Coast and California regions but fell elsewhere, according to EIA's weekly report.
Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed at $46.05 per barrel Sept. 12. Prices have bounced from a monthly high of $48.52 on Aug. 19 to a low of $43.16 on Sept. 1.
Oil has fluctuated since rallying in August amid speculation the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia would agree on measures to stabilize the market later this month, Bloomberg News reported.
The longer OPEC and other producers talk about a ceiling on crude output, the more doubts grow in the market. Money managers increased wagers on falling West Texas Intermediate prices by the most in three months as a meeting between Russia and Saudi Arabia the week of Sept. 5 ended without specific measures to support the market, according to Bloomberg.
U.S. average #Diesel fuel price on 9/12/16= $2.399/gal, DOWN $0.008 from week ago https://t.co/ZSja2zoutM #truckers pic.twitter.com/uT7TMusGcB — EIA (@EIAgov) September 12, 2016
