Diesel Falls 1.5¢ to $4.692; Gas Tops $4 for First Time
The national average price of diesel fuel fell for a second straight week, dipping 1.5 cents to $4.692 a gallon, while gasoline rose above $4 for the first time, the Department of Energy said Monday.
The diesel decline left trucking’s main fuel $1.90 over the same week a year ago, DOE said following its weekly survey of filling stations.
Gasoline, meanwhile, jumped 6.3 cents to $4.039, DOE said, marking the first time the motor fuel has topped the $4 level nationally and putting it 96.3 cents over the same week last year.
Gasoline was as high as $4.43 in California, DOE said, while the Midwest, Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain regions all were less than $4 on average.
Diesel fell 1.6 cents last week, its first decline in four weeks after soaring to several record highs. Trucking’s main fuel topped out at $4.723 two weeks ago.
Crude oil futures fell more than $4 Monday to $134.35 a barrel after jumping a record $10.75 on Friday to close at a record $138.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported.
Diesel slipped 3.5 cents in California to $4.992, DOE figures showed. The price in California — which DOE breaks out separately from but includes in its West Coast region — was over $5 the past two weeks.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
