Diesel Average Continues to Climb
The national average price of diesel fuel, as reported by the Energy Information Administration on May 22, rose 1.7 cents from the week before to $1.432, marking the second consecutive weekly increase, after two weeks of decline that saw the price drop to $1.402 on May 8.
Reasons for the price increase lie partly in the continuing high prices for crude oil, which stood at $29.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on May 22.
Diesel prices tend to shadow the price of crude on NYMEX, with last week’s increase coming in the wake of a rise in the price of crude to its present level. In addition, demand for diesel fuel is reported to have grown in Europe as economic activity accelerates.
So far, the high point for the year is $1.496 a gallon, reported on March 13.
 | Fuel Prices | |||
| Week of May 22: | ||||
| source | price | change | ||
| DOE | 143.2 | +1.7 | ||
| Comdata* | 140.2 | +2.6 | ||
| OPIS self-serve* | 141.7 | +2.6 | ||
| OPIS wholesale* | 83.1 | +5.3 | ||
| *Comdata and OPIS figures are for the week of May 13-19. Click here for more fuel prices. | ||||
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