Supply Increases Drive Diesel Prices Down

As the national average price of diesel fuel fell for the third straight week, the price of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange plunged below $26 a barrel for the first time since Jan. 11, based on expectations, as well as rumors, that the supply may have already increased.

	Fuel Prices
	Week of April 3:
	source	price		change
	DOE	144.2		-0.9
	Comdata*	141.2		-2.6
	OPIS self-serve*	142.8		-2.4
	OPIS wholesale*	86.6		+3.1
	*Comdata and OPIS figures are for the week of Mar. 25-31. Click here for more fuel prices.
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The average price at the pump stood at $1.442 per gallon on April 3, 0.9 cents less than the previous week, and 5.4 cents under the March 13 average, according to the weekly report by the Energy Information Administration.

The price decline came amid speculation by some analysts that the downturn is coming in part because Saudi suppliers have released extra oil that had already been pumped and held in anticipation of a rise in production quotas by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on March 28.

The machinations of the OPEC cartel have taken the price of diesel fuel from historic lows to historic highs over the past 13 months — from a low of 95 cents in February 1999 to a high of $1.496 on March 13.

For the full story, see the Apr. 10 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.