Diesel Jumps 11.1 Cents to $2.876 a Gallon
he national average price of diesel fuel rose 11.1 cents, matching last week's gain, to $2.876 a gallon, as trucking's main fuel continued to soar following a week of record oil prices, the Energy Department said Monday.
Gasoline, meanwhile, continued to spike, jumping 13.1 cents from last week to $2.914, DOE said following its weekly survey of filling stations.
The average prices for both fuels leapfrogged $3 a gallon both in the West Coast region and in California, which DOE breaks out separately from its five regional averages.
he price for trucking’s main fuel matched the price of last Oct. 31, just one week after diesel hit an all-time record of $3.157 a gallon. Gasoline has not been this high since Oct. 3 when it was $2.928; the national record price was $3.069 set last Sept. 5 following Hurricane Katrina.
Crude oil soared to repeated record highs last week, closing at more than $70 for the first time on the New York Mercantile Exchange last Monday, and finishing the week at $75.17, a closing-price record. (Click here for related coverage.)
Diesel’s latest prices is 58.7 cents higher than a year ago and about $1.16 higher than it was two years ago. For a trucker pumping 200 gallons, that’s an extra $117.40 over last year and $232 over two years ago.
Diesel jumped in all five DOE’s regions, led by a 14.7-cent spike in the Rocky Mountains region to $2.903 and an 11.2-cent jump in the Midwest to $2.847.
The East Coast gained a dime to $2.888 and the Gulf Coast rose 9.2 cents to $2.817, DOE said.
Each week, DOE surveys 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
