Diesel Falls for Third Week, Dropping 9.6 Cents to $2.602
he average U.S. retail price of diesel fuel fell for a third straight week, dropping 9.6 cents to $2.602 a gallon, the Department of Energy said Monday.
The decline followed drops of 17.8 cents last week and 28.1 cents two weeks ago, bringing the three-week drop in the price of trucking's main fuel to 55.5 cents.
Diesel had reached a record $3.157 a gallon on Oct. 24.
Gasoline has plunged 63.2 cents since Oct. 3 and 77.3 cents since hitting a record $3.069 a gallon on Sept. 5 following Hurricane Katrina, according to DOE figures.
The downward prices followed declines in crude oil prices last week to less than $58 a barrel from $60 the previous week — both well below the $70.85 record set Aug. 30 following Hurricane Katrina.
The average diesel price was 47 cents higher than this time last year, while gasoline was 32.7 cents higher than a year ago, according to DOE figures.
Diesel prices plunged 14.1 cents in the Rocky Mountain region, which had been the nation’s highest price, to $2.766 a gallon, DOE said.
Prices fell 9.6 cents in the Midwest to $2.575, dropped 9.2 cents in the East Coast region to $2.565 and declined 8.3 cents on the West Coast to $2.738 a gallon.
ach week, DOE surveys 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
