Average Diesel Price Declines 1.7 Cents to $1.471

The national average price of diesel fuel declined 1.7 cents per gallon to $1.471, the Department of Energy reported Monday.

Diesel is the primary fuel for the trucking industry and a major cost for trucking companies.

This was the third straight week that the price of diesel fell has declined, DOE said. The 3.2-cent dip would save a trucker $6.40 on a 200-gallon purchase at retail pumps.

Diesel is 5.7 cents ahead of the corresponding week a year ago.

The average retail price for regular gasoline, the other major fuel for the trucking industry, fell 2 cents a gallon to $1.697, DOE said.

DOE said that diesel fell in all five of its geographic regions, with the largest decline of 3.7 cents reported along the West Coast grouping of states to $1.604.

Meanwhile, the price of crude oil fell to a four-month low in New York on Monday after OPEC's president said the group would invite Iraq to attend a meeting next week for the first time since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.

rude oil for October delivery fell 13 cents to $28.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest closing price since May 12.

Each week, DOE surveys 350 diesel-filling stations around the country to compile a snapshot of fuel prices nationwide.

10623