Diesel Jumps 7.4¢ to Top $3.40 a Gallon
Diesel rose for a seventh straight week, jumping 7.4 cents to $3.407 a gallon, the Department of Energy said.
Trucking’s main fuel was last over $3.40 when it was $3.482 on Oct. 20, 2008, in decline from the record highs of over $4 that summer.
Gasoline also rose, increasing 1.5 cents to $3.104 a gallon, also its seventh straight gain, putting it at its highest level since it was $3.152 on Oct. 13, 2008.
It was the biggest weekly diesel jump since a 7.6-cent gain on April 5, and the national average price of both fuels has hit their highest levels since October 2008 in each of the past seven weeks.
Diesel is now 53.7 cents over the same week last year, while gas is 36.5 cents more expensive than a year ago, DOE said following its weekly surveys of filling stations.
Crude oil has been trading at more than $91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, also the highest level since 2008, Bloomberg reported.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price. This week’s survey was released Tuesday due to the federal holiday on Monday.
