Diesel Resumes Rise, Gaining 2.6¢ to $4.124 a Gallon
Diesel resumed its rise after a one-week respite, gaining 2.6 cents to $4.124 a gallon, the highest price since August 2008, while gasoline jumped 8.4 cents to $3.963, the Department of Energy said Monday.
Gas is already topping $4 in many areas nationwide, including the Midwest and West Coast regions and the New England subregion, DOE said following its weekly survey of filling stations.
Diesel has risen in 20 of 22 weeks since the end of November, for a cumulative increase of 96.2 cents. Its only downturns were a 0.7-cent dip last week and a 0.1-cent decline on March 21.
Regular gasoline also has increased in 20 of 22 weeks — including a $1.107 increase since Thanksgiving — and is $1.065 higher than the same week last year, DOE figures showed.
Diesel is $1.002 over the same week a year ago and is at its highest level since averaging $4.145 on Aug. 25, 2008. Gasoline is at its highest since it was $4.064 on July 21, 2008.
Diesel’s all-time record national average price was $4.764 per gallon, set on July 14, 2008, while gasoline’s was $4.114, set a week earlier.
Crude oil finished the trading week Friday at $113.93 a barrel, the highest level since September 2008, Bloomberg reported. Oil has risen almost $30 since mid-February, largely due to concerns about unrest in Libya, an OPEC oil producer.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
