Diesel Jumps 6.5¢ to $2.797
Diesel fuel rose by the most in more than two months, jumping 6.5 cents to $2.797 a gallon, the Department of Energy said Monday.
Diesel’s gain was the second in two weeks following seven declines. With last week’s 0.6-cent uptick, the 7.1 cents in increases almost erased the downturns, which had totaled 8.2 cents.
Trucking’s main fuel is now 50.6 cents over the same week last year, according to DOE figures. Monday’s rise was the biggest since a 9.6-cent spike on Oct. 26.
Gasoline, meanwhile, surged 5.8 cents to $2.665 a gallon, DOE said following its weekly survey of filling stations.
It was gasoline’s second straight gain, and left the motor fuel almost $1 — 98.1 cents — higher than the same week last year.
The upward moves came in tandem with oil prices that surged to more than $81 a barrel for the first time since October, Bloomberg reported.
Oil rose $2.15 to close at $81.51 a barrel Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the first time crude has closed over $81 since Oct. 22 and the highest closing price since $86.59 on Oct. 9, 2008.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
