U.S. Retail Diesel Average Rises 0.3 Cent to $1.986

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he national average price of diesel fuel rose 0.3 cent to $1.986 a gallon, the Department of Energy said Monday.

The rise followed a 0.6-cent dip the previous week after three prior weeks of increases, DOE’s figures showed.

The national average diesel price was 40.2 cents higher than a year earlier, DOE figures showed. The trucking industry burns an estimated 650 million gallons of diesel each week, which would raise the cost to the trucking industry by about $260 million more than the same week last year.

Meanwhile, the average price of regular gasoline fell 1.1 cents to $1.898 a gallon, the second decline following four increases, DOE said. Gasoline was still 25 cents higher than the same time last year, the department reported.

The price of crude oil was mostly stable last week, though light sweet crude rose 26 cents to close at $47.42 a barrel Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported. It attributed the rise in part to possible OPEC production cuts.

Despite the national increase, the price dropped in every region except the West Coast and California. West Coast region prices rose 7.7 cents to $2.19 a gallon and California’s price rose 5.2 cents to $2.196, DOE reported.

The East Coast’s New England sub-region had an average price of $2.197 a gallon, topping California’s price, DOE said.

The Gulf Coast region had the biggest drop for the week, down 2.3 cents to $1.915 a gallon.

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

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