Diesel Falls 4.7¢ to $3.786 in Third Straight Decline
Diesel declined for a third straight week, declining 4.7 cents to $3.786 a gallon, its biggest drop since mid-August, while gasoline plunged almost a dime, the Department of Energy said Monday.
Despite the downturn, trucking’s main fuel is 83.5 cents higher than the same week last year, DOE figures showed.
Gasoline fell 9.2 cents to $3.509, also the third-straight decline and its biggest downturn in four months, DOE said. It was the largest drop since an 11.1-cent drop in May 23 to $3.849.
Gas has now fallen 16.5 cents in the past three weeks, and is now 81.5 cents over the same week a year ago, DOE said following its weekly surveys of filling stations.
The $3.81 diesel price five weeks ago was the lowest since February, and diesel is now 33.8 cents below the year’s high of $4.124 set May 2, which was the highest since August 2008.
Crude oil closed below $80 a barrel Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, for the first time since early August.
Oil rose 39 cents Monday to finish at $80.24 a barrel on the Nymex, Bloomberg reported.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
