Diesel Price Soars 12 Cents in Single Week

The national average price of a gallon of diesel fuel skyrocketed 12 cents in the past week to $1.662, the Department of Energy reported Monday.

The price rose to within a cent of $1.67, which is what DOE recognizes as its all-time high in its historical statistics. The price of diesel rose that high on Oct. 17, 2000, DOE said.

The 12-cent increase is the largest price spike ever, according to the DOE's Energy Information Administration, which has been tracking movements in diesel prices since 1994.

The price of gasoline also rose significantly, jumping 8 cents a gallon to $1.607, EIA said.

The department and the American Petroleum Institute both reported significant drops in distillate inventories last week. The DOE said that inventories of distillates, which include diesel fuel and home heating oil, fell by 10.3 million barrels and API reported a decline of 8.7 million barrels.

The price of diesel fuel made double-digit moves in all but the Rocky Mountain states and on the West Coast, EIA reported.

The New England states, which have been hit hard by a colder-than-usual winter, saw diesel prices surge 19.1 cents a gallon to $1.834 – the highest price in the United States. States on the East Coast had a price increase of 14.5 cents to an average of $1.716 a gallon, EIA said.

At the start of every business week, the EIA surveys 350 diesel-filling stations to compile a snapshot of the price of diesel fuel on that day.