Diesel Jumps 16.6¢ to $4.497
The average price of diesel fuel jumped another 16.6 cents to a record $4.497 a gallon, the Energy Department said Monday.
The gain followed last week’s 18.2-cent jump, which had been the biggest single-week increase since the hurricanes of September 2005.
The upturn left diesel $1.694 higher than the same week last year, and it has soared $1.152 this year alone.
Gasoline, meanwhile, rose 6.9 cents to $3.791 a gallon, DOE said followings its weekly survey of filling stations. That increase left gas 57.3 cents over the same week last year.
Crude oil closed at an all-time high Monday, finishing the trading day at a closing-price record $127.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Diesel prices are being pushed higher globally in part because China is storing the fuel in advance of this summer’s Olympics, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
The United States is also exporting more diesel, which is in strong demand in Europe and elsewhere, the paper said.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
