Diesel Inches Up 0.7¢ to $2.572 a Gallon
The U.S. average retail price of diesel rose 0.7 cent to $2.572 a gallon as the stronger bite of OPEC production cuts lifted the price of crude to nearly $54 a barrel, analysts said.
It was diesel’s second increase after four consecutive weekly declines, the Department of Energy reported Feb. 21 for the period ending Feb. 20.
Diesel now costs 58.9 cents more than it was a year ago, when the price was $1.983 a gallon, DOE said.
The average diesel price also was higher in all regions, except New England where it fell 10 cents to $2.658.
At the same time, the U.S. average price for regular gasoline fell 0.5 cent to $2.302 a gallon and was 57.2 cents higher than it was a year ago, DOE’s Energy Information Administration said.
Prices were mixed in the regions, falling in five and rising in the other regions, EIA said.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed at $54.06 per barrel Feb. 21, compared with $53.20 on Feb. 14.
OPEC never has taken supply cuts so seriously, and hedge funds are loving it, according to Bloomberg News.
“The OPEC cuts so far are a little bigger than expected, and there’s no sign that they are backing down,” Mike Wittner, head of commodities research at Societe Generale SA in New York, told Bloomberg by telephone. “This feeds into expectations that we’re heading into a balanced market.”
At the same time, “Money managers have confidence that there will be either a further, ongoing investor flow that will keep prices elevated, OPEC cuts will continue and start reducing inventories or increased demand will reduce supply in the second half of the year,” Tim Evans, an energy analyst at Citi Futures Perspective in New York, told Bloomberg.
U.S. weekly #Gasoline price down 0.5 cents to $2.30/gal, #Diesel up 0.7 cents to $2.57. #EIA #Radio spots: https://t.co/219yVOumxq #energy pic.twitter.com/0Qjim3FsI8 — EIA (@EIAgov) February 21, 2017
