Diesel Price Drops 0.2 Cent; Second Straight Decline
he Department of Energy said Tuesday the national average retail price for diesel fuel declined 0.2 cent per gallon to $1.869.
Last week's decrease of 0.3 cent was the first time since June 21 the average price of commercial trucking's main fuel fell. Still, diesel had increased 17.4 cents over the prior eight weeks, and was 38.1 cents higher than a year earlier.
Trucking burns an estimated 650 million gallons of diesel each week, meaning the industry paid almost $250 million in additional fuel diesel expenses based on retail figures.
Gasoline reached a record $2.064 on May 24 and is up 37.2 cents so far this year.
Also Monday, the price of crude oil for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 69 cents to $43.30 a barrel at the close of trading, Bloomberg reported. Prices were down 12% from the record of $49.40 reached on Aug. 20 but are 50% higher than a year ago.
Meanwhile, the national diesel decline was led by a 1.3-cent drop along DOE's West Coast grouping of states, where the price was $2.038. Its largest state, California, has the highest average diesel price at $2.136, despite a drop of 1.2 cents.
The average price of diesel also fell in Gulf Coast, but was unchanged along the East Coast states and actually rose slightly in the Midwest and Rocky Mountain areas.
Each week, DOE surveys 350 diesel-filling stations to compile a national snapshot price.
11887