Diesel Climbs 1.1 Cents to $2.436, Ending Six-Week Decline
ollowing six straight weekly declines, the average retail price of diesel fuel rose 1.1 cents to $2.436 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported Monday.
Meanwhile, the average price of regular gasoline climbed 3.8 cents to $2.185, DOE said. That turned around nine straight weeks of declines since it was $2.928 a gallon on Oct. 3.
Gasoline’s all-time record was $3.069 a gallon, set on Sept. 5 following Hurricane Katrina. Diesel’s record was $3.157, set on Oct. 24.
Heating oil and diesel fuel are both distillate fuels and their prices often parallel each other in the winter months.
After ranging from $56.50 a barrel to $59.32 a barrel in the previous week, oil prices last week closed in the range of $59.39 to $60.66 a barrel last week, Bloomberg reported.
Crude oil futures closed Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange at $61.30. The record was $70.85, set on Aug. 30 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Diesel prices rose in three of five DOE regions, falling on the West Coast and the Rocky Mountain regions. It also dropped in California, which the department breaks out separately.
The Rocky Mountain region led the declines, falling 7 cents to $2.401 a gallon, following a 12-cent drop last week. That was the lowest among the regional average prices — while just three weeks ago, it recorded the highest average, at $2.654 a gallon.
The West Coast price fell 3.8 cents, following a 7.9-cent drop last week, to $2.50, while California’s price dropped 2.1 cents, after a 7.3-cent drop last week, to $2.465 a gallon.
The price rose in the East Coast region by 3 cents to $2.458, by 1.9 cents in the Midwest to $1.409 and by 1.89 cents in the Gulf Coast region to $2.429, DOE said.
Each week, DOE surveys 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
