August 31, 2004 4:00 PM, EDT

Average Diesel Price Drops 0.3 Cent; First Decrease Since June 21

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he U.S. average price for retail diesel fuel declined 0.3 cent to $1.871 per gallon, the Department of Energy said Monday, the first decrease since June 21 in the national average price of commercial trucking's main fuel.

Diesel rose 4.9 cents a week ago, and by a total of 17.4 cents over the past eight weeks. It had set a new high each of the last four weeks, breaking the previous record of $1.771 set on March 10, 2003.

The price of diesel is 37 cents higher than a year earlier, according to DOE figures. The trucking industry burns an estimated 650 million gallons of diesel each week.

DOE said diesel was unchanged at $1.70 on June 28, but it then started a steady climb through the summer.

Also Monday, the average retail price for regular gasoline dropped 1.8 cents to $1.866 a gallon. The latest retail average is the lowest since $1.844 on May 3.

Gasoline reached a record $2.064 on May 24 and is up 38.8 cents so far this year.

Although the price of diesel rose 1.9 cents to $1.915 in the Rocky Mountains, it declined at least 0.2 cent in each of DOE's four other major geographic regions. The price declined 1 cent along the West Coast grouping of states, leaving diesel at $2.051, also 37 cents higher than a year earlier.

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