Diesel Jumps 7.5 Cents to $2.626; Gas Soars 12.2 Cents

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The average national price of diesel fuel jumped 7.5 cents to $2.626 a gallon, while gasoline soared 12.2 cents from last week to $2.505, the Department of Energy said Monday.The diesel price increase was the fifth straight for trucking's main fuel. Over the past five weeks, it has risen 21.3 cents, according to DOE figures.Gasoline, meanwhile, has also risen for five straight weeks, spiking 34 cents over that time. The 12.2-cent hike was the biggest since a 13.1-cent increase last April 24.The diesel increase, meanwhile, was the biggest since Aug. 7, matching that week’s 7.5-cent jump.Rising diesel and gas prices have paralleled crude oil price increases in the past month. Oil closed at more than $60 a barrel for the first time this year on Feb. 21.Benchmark light sweet crude oil futures closed at $61.64 a barrel Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported.The diesel average is 8.1 cents over the same week last year, while gasoline's average is 17.1 cents above a year ago, DOE said.For the first time in five weeks, the average diesel price in California declined, dipping 1.4 cents to $2.897, though it rose in all five DOE regions.The department breaks out California separately from its regional prices, though it is included in the West Coast price, where diesel rose half-a-cent to $2.795.Both the Rocky Mountain and Gulf Coast regions saw the week’s highest spike, at 9 cents, to $2.658 and $2.587, respectively.Each week DOE surveys 350 filling stations nationwide to get a national snapshot average price.