Diesel Continues Slide, Falling 17.8 Cents to $2.698

he national average retail diesel fuel price continued to fall, dropping 17.8 cents to $2.698 a gallon, the Energy Department said Monday.

The drop was the second-highest on record behind last week's 28.1-cent decline, bringing the two-week drop in the price of trucking's main fuel to 45.9 cents, DOE said following its weekly survey of filling stations.

The two big declines followed a record 34.6-cent jump Oct. 3 to a then-record $3.144 a gallon. Prices held near that level for three weeks, peaking at a record $3.157 on Oct. 24 before the two latest dropoffs.

Gasoline has plunged 55.2 cents since Oct. 3 and 69.3 cents since hitting a record $3.069 a gallon Sept. 5 following Hurricane Katrina.

The average diesel price was 53.5 cents over the same time last year, while gasoline's level was 37.5 cents higher, according to DOE figures.

Meanwhile, crude oil futures fell $1.11 Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange to close at $59.47 a barrel, as mild weather kept heating oil demand down, Bloomberg reported. It was the lowest closing price since July 27.

DOE is scheduled to issue its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook report Tuesday, which will show recent demand patterns for crude oil, distillates (which include diesel) and gasoline.

Diesel retail prices plunged the most in the Midwest, falling 23.6 cents to $2.671 a gallon, while the Rocky Mountain regional price — which fell 17.2 cents — remained the nation's highest, at $2.907.

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