Diesel Declines 11.6¢ to $3.419 a Gallon
The last time the average diesel price per gallon was lower was on Jan. 17, 2011, when it fell to $3.407.
This week’s drop was the largest single weekly decline since diesel fell 14.5 cents a gallon on Nov. 24, 2008 as the nation plunged into recession.
Gasoline’s average retail price this week also continued the downward slide in fuel prices, registering at $2.554 a gallon this week, down 12.5 cents from $2.679 a gallon last week.
Diesel is now 45.2 cents below a year ago, while gasoline is 68.5 cents less than the corresponding week last year, DOE said after its weekly survey of filling stations, released Dec. 15.
Falling prices are good news for truckers, who have in recent years had to contend with $4-a-gallon-plus prices. And according to Bloomberg News, even lower prices may be in store due to the continuing decline in crude oil prices.
“Brent, the global benchmark, will slide to as low as $50 a barrel in 2015, according to the median in a Bloomberg survey today of 17 analysts, down from the $115.71 a barrel high for the year on June 19,” Bloomberg News reported on Dec. 15.
The grade is already down 47% since June, Bloomberg said.
Last week, the DOE’s Energy Information Administration forecasted a short-term outlook for Brent crude in 2015 of a $68 per-barrel average.
