Diesel Rises 6.8¢ to Five-Month High $3.981; Gasoline Gains 5.6¢ to $3.608 a Gallon
Diesel took its biggest increase since February, rising 6.8 cents to a five-month high $3.981 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported.
Gasoline also rose, climbing 5.6 cents to $3.608 a gallon, its second straight increase and the biggest gain in seven weeks, DOE said following its weekly survey of filling stations.
The third straight diesel increase followed modest gains totaling 1.7 cents in the past two weeks, and last week’s highest oil price in more than two years.
Despite the increase, trucking’s main fuel — which hit its highest price since April 1 — is 14.6 cents below its level a year ago. Gasoline is 23.5 cents below the same week last year.
Diesel’s increase was the biggest one-week gain since an 8.2-cent upturn on Feb. 11, while gasoline’s was the largest since a 14.7-cent spike on July 15.
Regionally, diesel took its biggest increase in the East Coast region’s Central Atlantic subregion, gaining 7.5 cents to $4.055. DOE’s Rocky Mountain region posted the smallest uptick, gaining a penny to $3.937.
Oil, meanwhile, rose 89 cents to finish trading at $108.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg News reported.
Crude futures topped out at $110.10 on Aug. 28, the highest closing price since May 3, 2011, according to Bloomberg figures.
Each week, DOE surveys about 400 diesel filling stations and 800 gasoline stations to compile national average prices. This week’s survey was released on Tuesday, Sept. 3, because of the Labor Day holiday.
