Diesel Rises 0.4¢ to $3.078 for Ninth Gain in 10 Weeks
Diesel’s national average pump price increased for the ninth time in 10 weeks, rising 0.4 cent to $3.078 a gallon, the Department of Energy said Monday.
The fourth straight increase left trucking’s main fuel 32.2 cents higher than when the recent increases began in mid-February and 87.7 cents over the same week last year.
But Monday’s increase was the smallest of the nine; along with last week’s half-cent gain it was the only upturn of less than a penny.
Gasoline, meanwhile, fell 1.1 cents to $2.849 — the first time in 10 weeks it has gone in an opposite direction from diesel, DOE said following its weekly survey of filling stations.
Gas has risen 24.1 cents in its eight increases over the 10-week run, and Monday’s price left it 80 cents higher than a year ago.
Oil fell 92 cents Monday to finish the trading day at $84.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported.
Crude prices had hit their lowest closing price of the month last Monday, at $81.45, before rising to finish the week over $85 on Friday, Bloomberg said.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
