Diesel Price Declines 2.5¢ to $2.539 a Gallon
The U.S. average retail price of diesel declined 2.5 cents to $2.539 a gallon, according to the Energy Information Administration of the Department of Energy.
The decline follows a rise of 1.5 cents the prior week that was the first increase in three weeks, according to EIA data released March 20.
The price of trucking’s main fuel dipped in every region of the country, falling the most, 3.9 cents, in the Gulf Coast area, according to EIA.
Diesel fuel is now 42 cents more expensive than it was a year ago.
The U.S. average price for regular gasoline declined 0.2 cents to $2.321 a gallon, DOE’s Energy Information Administration said.
U.S. crude oil dropped below $50 a barrel this month, for the first time this year, as the nation’s near-record crude stockpiles and increasing production weighed on the output reductions by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, Bloomberg News reported.
While OPEC won’t decide until May whether to prolong the curbs, energy ministers, including Russia’s Alexander Novak, will meet the weekend of March 24-26 in Kuwait to discuss the deal’s progress, according to Bloomberg.
“The solid weekly gain in U.S. oil rigs continues, and the market sees that,” said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB AB in Oslo, Norway, told Bloomberg. “OPEC can easily shoot itself in the foot if the cuts lift the long-dated WTI price, which will drive U.S. shale yet higher and stronger.”
