Retail Diesel Average Drops 3.6 Cents to $2.449 a Gallon

he national average retail price of diesel fuel fell 3.6 cents to $2.449 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported Tuesday following its weekly survey.

Unleaded regular gasoline's national average dropped 0.7 cent to $2.32 a gallon, DOE said.

Diesel's decline followed last week’s 4.3-cent jump, which had been the most since the record 34.6-cent leap on Oct. 3 to a then-record $3.144 a gallon.

Since dropping 8.9 cents on Nov. 21 to $2.513 a gallon, the average price of trucking’s main fuel has risen five times and fallen three times, according to DOE figures.

In this week’s survey, reported a day later than usual because of the Martin Luther King Day holiday Monday, diesel’s regional average price fell in all five national regions, though it rose slightly in California, which DOE breaks out separately.

The declines were led by the Midwest, down 4.3 cents to $2.408; East Coast, down 3.9 cents to $2.489; and Gulf Coast, down 3.8 cents to $2.415 a gallon.

California’s sub-regional price crept up 0.2 cent to $2.603, higher than all of the reported regional averages.

The West Coast had the highest regional average, at $2.565, declining 1.2 cents for the week. The Rocky Mountain price fell 1 cent to $2.411.

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