Diesel Drops 5.2¢ to $2.542 in Third Straight Decline
Diesel fell for a third straight week, dropping 5.2 cents to $2.542 a gallon, the Department of Energy said.
The decline left trucking’s main fuel $2.222 below the same week last year, when it hit its all-time record of $4.764 a gallon, DOE said following its weekly survey of filling stations.
Diesel had fallen 2.2 cents in DOE’s previous two weekly surveys; prior to that, it gained 43.1 cents in seven weeks of increases through June 22.
Gasoline, meanwhile, plunged 8.4 cents to an average $2.528 per gallon, slipping below diesel for the first time in two months, according to DOE records.
Gasoline hit a record $4.114 per gallon on July 7, 2008, and Monday’s gas price is $1.585 below same week last year.
Gas rose 65.4 cents over 11 straight weeks before falling 7.9 cents in DOE’s last two surveys.
Oil prices have plunged since late June, falling more than $11 to finish last week’s trading below $60 per barrel, Bloomberg reported.
Crude futures closed at a two-month low of $59.69 on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday, down 20 cents from Friday, Bloomberg reported.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
