Diesel Sets New 6 1/2-Year Low at $2.338
The U.S. average retail diesel price fell for the fifth consecutive week, down 4.1 cents a gallon to $2.338, the Department of Energy reported Dec. 14. The latest decline set a new low for prices over the past nearly 6 1/2 years, surpassing $2.354 set June 1, 2009.
Trucking’s main fuel is $1.081 a gallon cheaper than a year ago, when the price was $3.419.
Diesel prices fell in all regions, with New England registering the steepest decline, 6.2 cents.
Crude oil futures closed below $40 a barrel, settling at $36.31 on Dec. 14. The contract touched $34.53, the lowest since February 2009, Bloomberg News said.
DOE’s Energy Information Administration also said the national average price of gasoline fell 1.6 cents to $2.037 a gallon. The price dropped in all regions, the most being 3.4 cents in the Central Atlantic region. It was lowest in the Rocky Mountain region, $1.995.
West Texas Intermediate futures on Dec. 14 rose for the first time in seven days, Bloomberg said. U.S. Senate negotiators are nearing a deal to allow unfettered crude oil exports for the first time in 40 years, though differences remain on renewable-energy tax credits that Democrats are demanding in return, according to people close to the discussions.
Prices fell earlier on remarks from an Iranian oil official who said there’s “absolutely no chance” his country will delay its plan to boost shipments, even as prices slip, Bloomberg said.
U.S. average #Diesel fuel price on 12/14= $2.338/gal, DOWN $0.041 from week ago: https://t.co/d2vXGcDST8 #truckers — EIA (@EIAgov) December 14, 2015
