Diesel Price Rises 0.8 Cent to $1.289

The price of diesel fuel edged higher for the second week in a row, the U.S. Department of Energy said Monday, rising 0.8 cent per gallon to a nationwide average of $1.289.

DOE said the price of gasoline also rose 0.8 cent last week to $1.392 per gallon. While the biggest over-the-road trucks use diesel fuel, a portion of smaller commercial trucks run on gasoline.

The 0.8-cent rise in diesel followed a 0.6-cent increase last week – the first back-to-back increases since a nine-week stretch of run-ups that ended April 8.

The combined 1.4 cents in price increases experienced over the last two weeks put prices at their highest level since June 3 when the national diesel average was $1.30 even.

The last few weeks of increases may reflect a stiffening of world oil prices as the oil cartel vowed to hold firm to its production quotas, despite announcements that non-members like Russia and Norway would increase production.

The diesel price rose in all of the DOE’s regional survey areas, with the exception of the West Coast – which saw its diesel prices fall 0.4 cents on the strength of a 0.8-cent decline in California, its largest member state.

Each week, the DOE’s Energy Information Administration surveys 350 diesel-filling stations across the country to compile a snapshot of the average diesel price.