Diesel Falls 0.2¢ to $3.032 a Gallon
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The U.S. average retail price of diesel continued to drop Aug. 5, falling 0.2 cent to $3.032 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported July 29.
It was the fourth straight drop in diesel prices since July 15.
Diesel costs 19.1 cents less than it did a year ago when it was $3.223 per gallon, DOE reported.
Meanwhile, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. dropped by 2.7 cents to $2.688.
Regional diesel prices fell everywhere except New England and the Midwest.
The steepest decline was in the Central Atlantic states, where the price of a gallon of diesel fell by 1.2 cent to $3.233.
Diesel went up the most in the Midwest, where prices went up 0.2 cent to $2.942.
California, where prices remained the same, continues to have the highest diesel prices in the nation, at $3.94 per gallon. The cheapest diesel price was, yet again, reported in the Gulf Coast, at $2.787 per gallon.
On Aug. 5, West Texas Intermediate oil for September delivery slid 97 cents to settle at $54.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent oil for October settlement declined $2.08 to $59.81 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe Exchange. The last time Brent dipped below $60 was on June 12, Bloomberg News reported.
The worsening U.S.-China trade relations intensified fears about the health of the global economy, prompting investors across financial markets to flee risky assets. The dispute between the top two economies is threatening energy demand and overshadowing Middle East supply threats, according to Bloomberg.
“Oil is taking a hit with the escalation of the trade war and the slide in the yuan,” John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC, told Bloomberg. With no resolution to the dispute in sight, “We’ve seen the economic data out of Asia continue to worsen as a result; economies are contracting and so is demand for energy and crude oil,” he said.
