Diesel Dips 0.8¢ to $2.608; Drop Is First in 2 Months
The average national price of diesel fuel fell for the first time in eight weeks, dipping 0.8 cent to $2.608 a gallon, the Department of Energy said.
The downturn was the first since a 1.6-cent decline on May 4 — over the following seven weeks, diesel rose 43.1 cents.
Gasoline, meanwhile, fell almost a nickel, declining 4.9 cents to $2.642 a gallon, its first decline in almost three months.
Gas had risen for the previous 11 weeks, over which time its price rose 65.4 cents. Monday’s reported decline left it $1.453 below the same week last year, when it was rising toward its 4.114 record set last July 7.
The diesel downturn left trucking’s main fuel $2.037 below the same week last year when it was on its way up to its all-time record of $4.764 a gallon, set last July 14.
After closing below $70 in five of the past six trading sessions, oil rose $2.33 Monday to close at $71.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported, citing an attack by militants on an oilfield in Nigeria, Africa’s largest producer.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
