Diesel Price Rises 0.9 Cent to Record $3.157 a Gallon

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he average price of U.S. retail diesel rose 0.9 cent to reach a record $3.157 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported Monday.

The uptick followed a 0.2-cent drop in last week’s survey, and the prices in the past four weeks this month have been the highest on record, at $3.144 three weeks ago, $3.15 two weeks ago, $3.148 last Monday and the latest price.

Diesel had spiked a record 34.6 cents on Oct. 3 to reach the $3.144 level, at the time a record.

Meanwhile, the price of regular gasoline fell by 12.2 cents to $2.603 a gallon, DOE said. That followed a 12.3-cent drop last week, bringing the two-week decline to 25.5 cents.

Coupled with an 8-cent drop the previous week, the average gasoline pump price has dropped more than 33 cents this month following prices that topped $3 a gallon in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in September.

The diesel price is now 94.5 cents above the same time last year, DOE said following its weekly survey of filling stations. That would add about $189 to a trucker’s tab to fill a big rig’s 200-gallon tanks.

The price increase was led by the Midwest, at 9.1 cents to $3.235 a gallon, and Rocky Mountain region, which rose 5.4 cents to $3.232.

Both of those regional prices topped California this week, which DOE breaks out separately. California — which generally has the highest fuel prices in the country — saw its price fall 5.8 cents to $3.152.

The lowest regional price was the East Coast region, which fell 6.5 cents to $3.051, while the Gulf Coast fell 3.1 cents to $3.146.

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