Diesel Drops 3.1¢ to $2.348; Oil in Sharp Decline
The U.S. average retail price of diesel fell 3.1 cents to $2.348, the Department of Energy said, amid high fuel inventories plus falling crude oil prices that are approaching a bear market.
Diesel is 32 cents cheaper than a year ago, when the price was $2.668, DOE said after its Aug. 1 survey of fueling stations.
Trucking’s main fuel was down in every region.
Also last week, the U.S. regular gasoline average price fell 2.3 cents to $2.159 a gallon. The average is 53 cents cheaper than a year ago.
Gasoline prices were down in all regions, too, and the lowest along the Gulf Coast at $1.944.
Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed Aug. 1 at $40.06, down from $48.99 on July 1. It also was the first settlement below 200-day moving average since April, adding to the bearish pressure, according to Bloomberg News.
WTI fell by 14% in July, the biggest monthly decline in a year. It’s down by 19% since early June, bringing it close to the 20% drop that would characterize a bear market, Bloomberg said.
Also, Bloomberg said the crack spread, a measure of profit margins from refining crude into fuel, fell the past four months, data compiled by the media organization show.
“As you know, demand has been generally strong from gasoline products, and distillate demand is growing, but the issue that we're all faced with right now are very large inventories of products at this point,” Jeffrey Woodbury, Exxon Mobil Corp.’s vice president of investor relations, said in a conference call to discuss second-quarter earnings.
Exxon Mobil is the largest U.S. oil company based on market value.
