Diesel Gains 0.4¢ to $3.039; Oil Hits Record, Topping $86
Retail diesel fuel rose 0.4 cent to $3.039 a gallon, the Department of Energy said Monday, while crude oil jumped to a new closing-price record of $86.13 a barrel.
The increase followed last week’s 1.3-cent decline, but trucking’s main fuel rose 1.6 cents two weeks ago and jumped 6.8 cents three weeks ago.
Regular gasoline fell 0.8 cent to $2.762 a gallon, DOE said. Gas had fallen 1.8 cents last week and 2.4 cents two weeks ago.
The latest diesel price upturn left diesel 53.6 cents higher than the same week last year, according to DOE figures.
Monday’s price was within a penny of a 13-month high of $3.048, which was reported on Oct. 1.
Meanwhile, crude oil topped the record $83.32 closing-price record set on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Sept. 20, Bloomberg reported.
The price jump was sparked in part by concerns of tension between Turkey and Kurds in northern Iraq, and an OPEC forecast that showed production outside the cartel would be lower than previously forecast, Bloomberg said.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
