Diesel Price Dips 0.7¢ to $2.564 a Gallon
The U.S. average retail price of diesel dipped 0.7 cent to $2.564 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported June 5.
The price declined in every region expect New England, where it rose 0.2 cent, and the Rocky Mountains, where it increased 0.3 cent. Trucking's main fuel costs 15.7 cents more than it did a year ago, DOE said.
Diesel's 1.1-cent decline in the West Coast minus California was the most in any region, DOE’s Energy Information Administration said.
The U.S. average price for regular gasoline rose 0.8 cent to $2.414 a gallon. The cost is 3.3 cents higher than it was a year ago, according to EIA.
Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate for July delivery slipped 26 cents to settle at $47.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest level since May 10. Total volume traded was about 12% above the 100-day average. WTI fell 4.3% last week, the largest weekly drop since early May, Bloomberg News reported.
Gasoline futures for July delivery declined 2.5% to settle at $1.5381 a gallon, the lowest level in more than three weeks. The July gasoline crack spread, a rough measure of the profit from refining crude into gasoline, fell by $1.38 to settle at $17.20 a barrel.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt said they will suspend air, sea and land travel to and from Qatar, escalating a crisis that started from a dispute over relations with Iran. Qatar, though, still has access to shipping routes to deliver oil and gas to global buyers, and the specter of rising U.S. rig counts remains an issue, Bloomberg reported.
“The market has again turned its focus to worries that excess supplies are going to continue to keep the glut in place,” Gene McGillian, market research manager at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Conn., told Bloomberg News.
Crude has traded below $50 a barrel in New York since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to extend output cuts amid lingering concerns that the reductions won’t be enough to shrink global inventories as U.S. output continues to expand. While the Saudi-Qatar diplomatic spat hasn’t affected shipments, further escalation could raise the prospect of supply disruptions from the Middle East, including OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar, according to Bloomberg.
The nations all use the Strait of Hormuz, through which the U.S. Department of Energy estimates 30% of seaborne oil trade passes.
