Diesel Price Rises for Fifth Straight Week; Reaches $1.311

The nationwide average price of diesel fuel rose for the fifth straight week, the Department of Energy reported Monday, adding 1.1 cents a gallon to stand at $1.311.

Diesel is the fuel used in the vast majority of commercial trucks, making it very important to the industry. The price for the other major fuel for trucking -- gasoline -- rose 1.6 cents last week to $1.41, the DOE said.

The increase pushed the national average price to its highest point since April 15 when diesel fuel cost $1.32 per gallon.

However, relief from higher diesel prices may be on its way, Bloomberg reported Monday, as Nigeria, the fifth-largest crude oil exporter in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may be leaving the cartel in order to export more crude.

Such an increase in supply could ease upward pressure on diesel and gasoline prices because both fuels are distilled from crude oil.

For the fourth consecutive week, however, the West Coast has bucked the national trend as diesel prices in that region – encompassing the states of California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Alaska, Nevada and Hawaii – fell 0.1 cent per gallon to $1.382.

Each week, the DOE’s Energy Information Administration surveys 350 diesel filling stations across the country to compile a composite snapshot of diesel prices nationwide.

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