Diesel Dips 0.1¢ to $4.016; Decline is First in 6 Weeks
Diesel dipped 0.1 cent to $4.016 a gallon, its first decline in six weeks and just the third this year, the Department of Energy reported March 3.
The Feb. 24 price was the highest since March 25, 2013, and was the first time diesel topped $4 nationally since then.
This week’s dip was just the third downturn this year; diesel had also dropped in the second and third weeks of January. Diesel has risen 11.3 cents this year from late December.
Trucking’s main fuel is now 11.4 cents below the same week last year, according to DOE records.
Diesel topped out at $4.159 a gallon in late February last year, which was its highest level since the record high prices in the summer of 2008.
Gasoline, meanwhile, gained 3.5 cents to $3.479 a gallon, the fourth straight increase and highest price in almost six months.
The motor fuel has spiked 18.7 cents in its four increases, and is at its highest level since Sept. 23. Despite the gains, gas is 28 cents less than the corresponding week last year, DOE figures showed.
Crude oil prices jumped $2.33 to close at $104.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on March 3, the highest closing price since Sept. 19, the Associated Press reported.
The increase was spurred by global concerns over oil and natural gas supplies related to rising political tensions between Russia and Ukraine, AP reported.
Each week, DOE surveys about 400 diesel filling stations and 800 gasoline stations to compile national average prices.
