Diesel Falls 4.6¢ to $4.718 a Gallon
Diesel fuel’s national average pump price fell by the most in six months, dropping 4.6 cents to $4.718 a gallon, the Department of Energy said Monday.
The decline — the first in three weeks — follows last week’s crude oil slide of more than $16 and left trucking’s main fuel $1.829 per-gallon higher than the same week last year.
Gasoline, meanwhile, fell 4.9 cents, to $4.064 a gallon, DOE said following its weekly survey of filling stations. Gas is now $1.106 higher than last year.
The price downturns of both fuels followed a big drop in oil prices last week. After closing at $145.08 a barrel on July 11, oil plunged $16.20 last week, closing at $128.88 on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday, Bloomberg reported.
Monday’s diesel decline was the biggest since Jan. 21, when it fell 5.6 cents to $3.270 a gallon, according to DOE figures.
The price, which has soared this year, fell 4.4 cents a month ago, to $4.648 on June 23.
The declines were led by plunges of 6.4 cents in the West Coast region to $4.845, and by 6.2 cents in California— a West Coast component region that DOE breaks out separately — to $4.964 a gallon.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
