Diesel Jumps 9.1¢, Vaults Past $4 a Gallon
Diesel jumped 9.1 cents to $4.051, the first time it has topped $4 since November and the highest price since May, the Department of Energy said Monday.
The increase marked the first time diesel has topped $4 a gallon for the month of February, according to DOE records.
Gasoline prices soared 13 cents to $3.721 a gallon in the largest weekly increase in nearly a year, DOE said following its weekly survey of filling stations.
Diesel’s seventh increase in eight weeks left it 33.5 cents over the same week last year. Gasoline is now 33.8 cents higher than a year ago after its ninth gain in 10 weeks.
Diesel has posted a net gain of 26.8 cents in the past two months, following a cumulative drop of 22.7 cents in six weeks before that.
Gasoline has gained a cumulative 49.2 cents in the past 10 weeks. Monday’s increase was the biggest since a 13.7-cent jump March 7, 2011, and the price was the highest since June.
Monday’s diesel price is the highest since it was $4.061 last May 16. Diesel topped $4 just once after May last year, when its national average was $4.01 on Nov. 21
Oil prices had their biggest runup in two years in the two weeks ended Friday, topping out over $109 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported.
Crude futures slipped $1.21 Monday, the first drop in two weeks, to finish the Nymex trading day at $108.56 a barrel, Bloomberg said.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
