Diesel Fuel Dips Another 1.1 Cents to $2.506 a Gallon

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.

he national average retail price of diesel fuel fell another 1.1 cents to $2.506 a gallon, its 11th decline in the past 12 weeks, the Energy Department said Monday.

Gasoline, meanwhile, resumed its trend downward, dropping 1.8 cents to $2.20 a gallon, its 12th decline in 13 weeks. Gas had risen a penny last week and has fallen almost 84 cents since Aug. 7.

Trucking’s main fuel has plummeted almost 56 cents from a 2006 high of $3.065 on Aug. 14, DOE’s figures showed.

It is 19.2 cents below the same time last year. In the same two-week period last year, diesel fell 45.9 cents from its record $3.157, set Oct. 24, 2005, following the big Gulf Coast hurricanes.

rude oil, meanwhile, crept to above $60 a barrel on Monday, closing at $60.02 on speculation that OPEC may institute production cuts at its meeting next month, Bloomberg reported.

Diesel fell in three of five national regions, remaining flat in the Rocky Mountains at $2.577 and seeing a 0.4-cent uptick on the West Coast to $2.606.

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