Diesel Continues to Fall, Dropping 3.5¢ to $3.698
Diesel dropped 3.5 cents to $3.698 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported, as oil prices fell to the lowest level in more than two years.
Diesel’s national average price has fallen for five straight weeks and has not risen in the past 15, according to DOE records.
The price is 18.8 cents below a year ago, DOE said after its weekly survey of filling stations, which was released Oct. 14 because of Columbus Day.
Trucking’s main fuel has declined more than 22 cents since June and more than 32 cents since topping out at $4.021 in March, its highest level this year.
Gasoline, meanwhile, fell 9.2 cents to $3.207 a gallon — the lowest price since last November and the biggest single-week decline since December 2012.
The downturn left the motor fuel 14.7 cents below a year ago, DOE said.
With the exception of Nov. 11, 2013, when it was $3.194, it was the lowest price since gas was $3.189 on Feb. 21, 2011.
Oil fell almost $4 on Oct. 14 to finish at $81.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest closing price since June 28, 2012.
Oil has plunged almost $15 since mid-August and more than $25 since its 2014 high closing price of $107.26 per barrel June 20.
Each week, DOE surveys about 400 diesel filling stations and 800 gasoline stations to compile national average prices.
