Diesel Dips 0.8¢ to $2.221; Oil Hits Seven-Week Low
The national average price of diesel fuel fell by less than a penny, dipping 0.8 cent to $2.221 a gallon, the Department of Energy said Monday.
The downturn left trucking’s main fuel $1.922 below the same week last year, according to DOE figures.
Diesel has hovered around the $2.22 level for the past month, and Monday’s price matched that of three weeks ago.
The 13.1-cent jump a week before that had been the biggest since Memorial Day, when it spiked 22.6 cents on its run toward the $4.764 record set in last July.
Gasoline rose 0.8 cent to $2.059 following a 1.4-cent gain the previous week, DOE said.
The increase was the 12th in 16 weeks this year and gas $1.338 below the same week last year and $2.063 below the record $4.114 set last July 7.
Crude oil, meanwhile, fell by the most in seven weeks Monday, dropping $4.45 on the New York Mercantile Exchange to close at $45.88 a barrel, Bloomberg reported.
The decline was due to the ongoing recession, which economists said would crimp demand, and to the U.S. dollar reaching its highest level in a month versus the euro, Bloomberg said.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
