Diesel Dips 0.3¢ to $4.645; Gas Hits Record $4.095
Diesel fuel’s national retail pump average declined 0.3 cent to $4.645 a gallon, the Energy Department reported Monday.
The modest downturn was the fourth in five weeks, although diesel is just 7.8 cents below the record $4.723 set on May 26.
The price is $1.816 higher than it was a year ago, according to DOE figures.
Meanwhile, gasoline rose 1.6 cents to $4.095, a record high price for the motor fuel, leaving it $1.136 over a year ago, DOE said.
Diesel moved by less than a penny in four of five national regions, declining by 1.4 cents in the Rocky Mountain region to $4.638.
The price in California — which DOE breaks out separately from its regions but which is included in the West Coast — dipped 0.6 cent to $4.928, the highest overall price.
The price in the New England sub-region rose 1.1 cents to $4.822, matching the Central Atlantic sub-region for the second-highest reported price, behind California.
Crude oil hit a record $143.67 in intraday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday, following Friday’s record closing price of $140.21, Bloomberg reported.
Oil closed at $140 a barrel on the Nymex on Monday, and Friday was the first day that oil topped the $140 mark.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
