Diesel Drops 2¢ to $4.104 a Gallon; Gasoline Edges up 0.2¢ to $3.965
Diesel fell 2 cents to $4.104 a gallon, its second downturn in three weeks and biggest decline in almost nine months, the Department of Energy said Monday.
Gasoline, meanwhile, edged up 0.2 cent, to $3.965 a gallon, DOE said following its weekly survey of filling stations. It has risen in 21 of the past 23 weeks and has gained almost $1.11 since Thanksgiving.
Despite its recent declines, diesel has risen in 20 of 23 weeks since Thanksgiving, gaining 94.2 cents over that time. Monday’s drop was the biggest since a 2.2-cent downturn on Aug. 23, to $2.957.
Trucking’s main fuel is now 97.7 cents higher than the same week last year, while gas is $1.06 over a year ago, DOE figures showed.
Diesel’s all-time record national average price was $4.764 per gallon, set on July 14, 2008, while gasoline’s was $4.114, set a week earlier.
Crude oil took its biggest weekly decline in two years last week, falling almost $17 to near $97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported.
Oil rebounded Monday, delivery rising $5.37 to close the Nymex trading day at $102.55 per barrel, Bloomberg said.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
