Diesel Drops 6.2¢ to $3.835 in Third Straight Decline
Diesel’s national average pump price fell for a third straight week, declining 6.2 cents to $3.835 a gallon, while gasoline dropped 7 cents to $3.604, the Department of Energy said Monday.
Diesel has declined in 11 of 15 weeks since early May, with Monday’s downturn matching the highest drop since then, a 6.2-cent decrease on June 27.
The price is the lowest in almost six months, since the $3.716 per-gallon price in late February, according to DOE records.
Gasoline fell for a second straight week following five gains. It also took its biggest decline since late June, when it fell 7.8 cents to $3.574.
Diesel is now 85.6 cents higher than the same week a year ago, while gasoline is 85.9 cents over the same week last year, DOE said following its weekly survey of filling stations.
Diesel is 28.9 cents below the year’s high of $4.124 set May 2, which was the highest national average price since August 2008. Gas is 36.1 cents below the price on May 9, which was also the highest since 2008.
Oil, which closed under $80 a barrel last Tuesday for the first time since September, has risen in each of the last three trading days, Bloomberg reported.
Crude futures gained $2.50 Monday to finish the New York Mercantile Exchange trading day at $87.88 a barrel, Bloomberg said.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
