Diesel Dives 7¢ to $3.535 as Oil Continues to Drop
Diesel’s pump price dove 7 cents to $3.535 a gallon, the biggest drop in two years, the Department of Energy reported Dec. 8, as oil plunged to a new five-year low near $63 a barrel.
Gasoline, meanwhile, declined by almost a dime, dropping 9.9 cents to $2.679, its lowest level in almost five years.
The diesel drop was the biggest since it fell 8.6 cents on Oct. 29, 2012. The national average retail price is the lowest since Feb. 14, 2011.
It has tumbled almost 50 cents since its 2014 high of $4.021 in mid-March and has risen just once since June, a 5.4-cent gain in mid-November.
Gasoline’s downturn was also the biggest in two years, and its price is the lowest since Feb. 22, 2010. The motor fuel has plunged more than $1 since topping out at $3.713 in April.
Diesel is now 34.4 cents below a year ago, while gasoline is 59 cents less than the corresponding week last year, DOE said after its weekly survey of filling stations.
Fuel has fallen with plunging oil prices, which are down more than $40 since June and about $15 since the beginning of November, according to Bloomberg News.
Crude futures fell $2.79 on Dec. 8 to finish New York Mercantile Exchange trading at $63.05 a barrel, the lowest Nymex closing price since July 16, 2009, Bloomberg reported.
Each week, DOE surveys about 400 diesel filling stations and 800 gasoline stations to compile national average prices.
