Diesel Climbs Again, Up 1.1¢ to $2.597 a Gallon
The U.S. average retail price of diesel increased 1.1 cents to $2.597 a gallon, according to the Department of Energy, as more U.S. wells came online and the price of oil slipped.
It was the sixth consecutive weekly increase and pushed trucking’s main fuel to within 1.8 cents per gallon of the nearly 17-month high of $2.615 set on Aug. 17, 2015.
Diesel is 42 cents more than it was a year ago when the price was $2.177, DOE said Jan. 9. In the most recent survey, all regions except the Gulf Coast — down by 0.3 cent per gallon — posted a higher weekly average diesel price and all were above year-ago prices.
Also, the U.S. regular gasoline average price rose 1.1 cents to $2.388 a gallon, 39.2 cents higher than a year ago, the department’s Energy Information Administration said.
The average weekly gasoline price rose in all regions, except in the Midwest where it slipped 0.3 cent. All regions posted year-over-year gains, too.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures closed Jan. 9 on the New York Mercantile Exchange at $51.96 per barrel, compared with $52.33 on Jan. 3.
Oil fell on Jan. 9 for the first time in four days as rising U.S. drilling activity fanned speculation that OPEC production cuts could boost North American output, according to Bloomberg News.
Gulf oil producers Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait are implementing the cuts they promised, Nawal Al-Fezaia, Kuwait’s OPEC governor, said in an interview Monday with Bloomberg in Kuwait City.
Still, that wasn’t enough to revive prices after Baker Hughes Inc. showed on Jan. 6 that U.S. drillers added rigs for the 10th straight week to the highest level in a year, Bloomberg said.
The total U.S. rig count rose to 665, up seven from a week earlier and an increase of one from a year earlier, Baker Hughes said.
Canadian rigs also jumped to 205, up 48 from a week earlier, and 39 more than a year ago, it said.
U.S. average #Diesel fuel price on 1/09/17 = $2.597 gallon, UP $0.011/gallon from week ago https://t.co/9xZyzZ5iiU #truckers — EIA (@EIAgov) January 9, 2017
