Diesel Price Falls, Oil Futures Rise

November 22, 2000 10:48 AM, EST

Diesel prices dropped for the fourth week in a row, but prices likely will remain high this winter because fuel supplies are not keeping up with demand.

On Nov. 13, the national retail average price for a gallon of diesel fuel stood at $1.603, down seven-tenths of a penny, according to figures from the Department of Energy. Over the past five weeks, the cost of fuel has dropped seven cents a gallon.

But the outlook for the winter is not promising, because refineries, which are operating at full tilt, still cannot pump out enough fuel to shore up plummeting inventories. The supply problem is exacerbated because weather forecasters are predicting a colder than normal winter. U.S. heating oil reserves fell 1.4% last week.

Diego Saltes, research analyst with American Trucking Associations, said there is little that can be done to increase supplies through the winter. Supplies of home heating oil in some parts of the country are 50% below last year, he said. If there are shortages in home heating oil, diesel will be used to heat people’s homes, Saltes said. That will cause diesel fuel shortages and price hikes, Saltes said.

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