Diesel Rises to Highest Level This Year
The U.S. average retail diesel price rose by 6.8 cents to $2.266 a gallon, the highest level this year, the Department of Energy reported after its May 2 survey of fueling stations.
The rise follows a 3.3-cent increase the prior week. Still, the price of trucking’s main fuel is 58.8 cents cheaper than a year ago.
The average price of diesel fuel increased to the highest level since the week of Dec. 28, when it was $2.237 a gallon.
Diesel prices rose in all regions, with the largest increase in the Midwest at 7.6 cents a gallon. The Gulf Coast had the lowest price, $2.137, despite an increase of 6.3 cents.
The average retail price of regular gasoline rose 7.8 cents to $2.240, DOE’s Energy Information Administration said. The price increased in every region.
Gasoline rose the most in the Midwest, increasing 8.9 cents to $2.215 a gallon.
The Energy Information Administration said late April 29 that U.S. gasoline demand rose to 9.2 million barrels in February, up 556,000 barrels a day from a year earlier and the biggest annual increase since May 1978, Bloomberg News reported.
Patrick de la Chevardiere, chief financial officer at French oil giant Total SA, told Bloomberg that low prices were leading to "strong demand" for gasoline, adding that the arrival of the driving season from June onward "will support the product demand and the refining margin."
U.S. demand for motor fuel typically peaks between Memorial Day and Labor Day, when Americans traditionally take vacations. Refiners use more crude as they increase operating rates to meet the extra demand for gasoline and diesel, according to Bloomberg.
U.S. average #Diesel fuel price on 5/02/16= $2.266/gal, UP $0.068 from week ago https://t.co/rQ3l3fapae #truckers pic.twitter.com/RqfapOMtrs — EIA (@EIAgov) May 2, 2016
