Diesel Price Falls 5.1 Cents to $2.847 a Gallon
he average price of U.S. retail diesel fuel dropped 5.1 cents to $2.847 a gallon from its all-time record a week earlier of $2.898, the Department of Energy reported Monday.
Regular gasoline fell 11.4 cents to $2.955 a gallon, from its record of $3.069 last Monday, DOE said following its weekly survey of filling stations.
Despite the declines, both fuels recorded their second-highest prices ever. Diesel’s dip was its first following seven weeks of gains and left trucking’s main fuel at almost a dollar — 97.3 cents — over the same time last year.
Trucking also burns about 290 million gallons of gasoline a week, which would add about $322 million in expenses, as gasoline's price is $1.109 higher than last year at this time.
The retail declines follow crude oil price drops and smaller-than-expected drops in gasoline and distillate inventories — which include diesel — last week. (Click here for previous coverage.)
After topping out at $70.85 a barrel Aug. 30 following Katrina’s landfall, crude oil prices receded to near $64 Friday and closed at $63.34 Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gasoline wholesale prices also continued to fall, analyst Trilby Lundberg said Monday. (Click here for related story.)
Regional diesel average prices fell in all five DOE regions, led by a 6.1-cent drop in the Midwest to $2.782 and 5.6-cent decline in the West Coast region to $3.093.
California, which DOE breaks out separately, continued to have the highest price overall, with an average of $3.158, though that was down 9.2 cents from the previous week.
Each week DOE surveys 350 filling stations to compile a national snapshot retail price.
